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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24444202">Devil, Devil</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaYamiMouto/pseuds/YunaYamiMouto'>YunaYamiMouto</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I'm In Love With The Devil [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange (Animated Movie), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Again, Aliens, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Arc Reactor, Artificial Intelligence, BAMF Cloak of Levitation, BAMF Harley Keener, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Shuri (Marvel), BAMF Tony Stark, Bargaining, Bending The Truth, But they tried their best given their situation, Captain America: The First Avenger, Comic Book Science, Demons, Dubious Consent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exes, Extremis Tony Stark, Eye of Agamatto, F/M, Fake Identities, Female Tony Stark, Gen, Gentleman Stephen Strange, Government Conspiracy, Half-aliens, Heart Attacks, Heart-to-Heart, Heartache, Heartbreak, Heartbreaking, Hell, Hurt Stephen Strange, Hurt/Comfort, Immortals, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Injury, Interrogation attempts, Jealousy, Magic, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Misunderstandings, Nazis, Not necessarily GOOD parents, Ohter characters mentioned, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Harley Keener, Protective Parent Howard Stark, Protective Parent Maria Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Rape/Non-con Elements, SSR, SSR Confidential, Secret Identity, Serious Injuries, Shapeshifting, Skrull(s), Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Soldiers, Song Lyrics, Spies &amp; Secret Agents, Time Travel, Toni Stark rocks, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark can play the piano and violin, Torture attempts, WWII, Weapons, and sing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:42:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>85,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24444202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaYamiMouto/pseuds/YunaYamiMouto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A whole year goes down the drain as she watches a scene that breaks her heart how no one else has ever managed. And to make matters worse, their problems are only starting from then on as the unimaginable happens and an immortal starts dying. She finally realizes how little she knew her family and how much she means to him. Will it be enough?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ancient One &amp; Stephen Strange, Ancient One &amp; Tony Stark, Christine Palmer &amp; Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer &amp; Tony Stark &amp; Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer/Stephen Strange, Clea Strange/Stephen Strange, Cloak of Levitation &amp; Stephen Strange, Cloak of Levitation &amp; Tony Stark, Friday &amp; Jarvis (Iron Man movies) &amp; Tony Stark, Friday &amp; Karen (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Harley Keener &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Shuri, Harley Keener &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Shuri &amp; Tony Stark, Harley Keener &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Harley Keener &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark &amp; Stephen Strange, Howard Stark &amp; Maria Stark &amp; Tony Stark, Howard Stark &amp; Stephen Strange, Howard Stark &amp; Tony Stark, Howard Stark/Maria Stark, Infinity Gems &amp; Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Tony Stark, Jarvis &amp; Friday &amp; Edith &amp; Jocasta, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) &amp; Tony Stark, Maria Stark &amp; Tony Stark, Peggy Carter &amp; Howard Stark, Steve Rogers &amp; Howard Stark, Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark, Tony Stark &amp; Stephen Strange, Tony Stark &amp; Wong, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I'm In Love With The Devil [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741951</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>266</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>165</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, again! Welcome to another story. This right here, my dear readers, is a sequel and the final installment of 'devil'Stephen 'series'. It is directly linked to "Dance With The Devil" and will reference a little the whole "Worlds Collide" event. Nothing major, but some things might make more sense if you read that, too. The tittle comes from the song that inspired this whole thing, Devil, Devil by MILCK, while the first part was named after a song from Breaking Benjamin though it hadn't really inspired it. Anyway, I hope you like it and that you'll leave a comment! Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>Sometimes, she wondered if it was worth it being Toni Stark as she made her way through the New York Sanctum Sanctorum towards the doors that led to Kamar-Taj, in desperate need of some calm after a meeting with the Avengers. Her original teammates, even after a whole year since the battle with Thanos that had nearly ended in all of their deaths had she not known Doctor Stephen Strange, still expressed distrust and distaste towards the Sorcerer Supreme, probably stemming from their own horrific experience with him. She couldn't blame them for their fear of him. Stephen is easily the most powerful individual in their universe, and even in others, as that dimension hopping adventure a year ago proved. He didn't bother hiding that when it was of use to him and he wasn't exactly fond of the Avengers as a whole, though he tolerated them, more so the newer members than the original team. That, however, didn't make him a danger to the world. <em>Dangerous</em>, certainly. Only a fool would <em>not </em>consider an almost all powerful immortal dangerous. A danger, though? Most certainly <em>not</em>, especially given Stephen's duty was to <em>protect</em> the world.</p><p>But that argument was useless to the likes of Steve Rogers, given how much Stephen likes to torment him every chance he gets. In Rogers' eyes, Stephen was the greatest evil of all things evil and the world would be better off without him in it. He badgered Toni consistently to stop seeing him and seek refuge somewhere where he couldn't find her, not that he understood that particular task could be very much impossible, especially now that she had an Infinity Stone stuck on her hand. Explaining <em>that</em> was even more useless so she never bothered, but Rogers never stopped, even when Toni ignored him for days on end.</p><p>Sometimes, she really, <em>really</em> wondered if it was worth it being Toni Stark and she couldn't find a satisfactory answer.</p><p>Which is why she was seeking out Stephen to begin with. Her boyfriend of one year and friend of a little over a decade always had this way of calming and anchoring her when she needed it the most. He was her safe harbor from every storm and she knew he'd take the time to listen, no matter how busy he might be. That was how it had always been between them. And besides, Kamar-Taj's peace was just what Toni needed after weeks of dealing with the Accords and the Avengers. The Accords were constantly changing and as the face of the Avengers Initiative and the revised Accords, the UN Council insisted she meet with them almost on a weekly basis, which was asking a lot with her usually busy schedule. She didn't have much choice unless she wanted to let one of the original Avengers to do it or Rhodey.</p><p>And while she really loved her honey-bear and while he was <em>really </em>awesome, he just wasn't cut out for political meetings that last longer than two hours. Besides, he was more used to speaking about the military and Toni's mistakes from her younger days than he was about sorcerers, mutants, enhanced and the such. That was her scene, not his. Especially as he still looked for faults in anything Stephen does, as if just waiting for and opportunity to ban him from Toni's life. he was still not over the whole secrecy thing, despite having accepted that it was more than Toni's choice whether she would introduce them before the end of the world or not. Didn't mean he had to like it, though, so he made sure to subtly (<em>not</em>) make his displeasure with Stephen known. At least he begrudgingly accepted that the man was god for Toni in that he made sure she took care of herself and at least he didn't glare at him every time he saw him. Small victories and all that.</p><p>Other than people now knowing about Stephen in her life and them finally putting an official status to their relationship, things were pretty much the same as always. Peter spent his afternoons with her in her lab, Harley visited on holidays - she was so glad those two got along; she saw them both as her protégés/pseudo sons, though she'll probably never tell them as much - and she had arranged a collaboration with Princess Shuri of Wakanda and somehow earned herself the title of the sister that Shuri never had, much to queen mother Ramonda's amusement and T'Challa's horror and exasperation. The kids got on so well Toni at times worried they might settle for world domination and probably drag her along for the ride - not that she'd really protest, though - which was why they were all hanging out in her lab right now under the supervision of KAREN and partially FRIDAY and JARVIS while she sought some relaxation with her boyfriend. Pepper was still her CEO, her company was doing great, the Accords were mostly stable despite the frequent changes and meetings caused by new individuals or groups signing up every other week, the world was as safe as it can ever be and they had relatively good relations with Asgard.</p><p>The only thorn in her side were Rogers and his consorts, really, Even to this day, that man managed to get her so worked up she swore Extremis was constantly active for days after speaking with him, even when it was necessary. At least Fury and Ross did their best to limit their interactions to the bare minimum, but sometimes even that was too much. The fact that they were tempted to let Stephen have another go at him said quite a bit about how annoying the blond supersoldier was getting.</p><p>Even the more freaky things in her life made more <em>sense </em>than that man, like the Soul Stone and the one new Infinity Gauntlet still stuck on her hand, for example. Or that strange dimension hopping adventure she and Stephen had went on about a year ago, literal <em>days </em>after the fiasco with Thanos and introducing Stephen to the Avengers. The Infinity Stones were all still where they have left them and Toni made no move to collect them all into one place again. Whenever the Devourer decides to come, she'll deal with it. For now, she has her entire - immortal - life to go through with many mundane challenges to go through before she has to worry about that.</p><p>Toni sighed when she stepped through the dimensional doors that led to Kamar-Taj, feeling sorry for herself when she realized just how <em>normal </em>all of it felt by now. Her whole life, she had been a woman of science, following laws of physics that actually made sense. Then, eleven years ago by now, a complete stranger, a handsome one none the less, had entered her life and flipped it upside down after only one dance. Ever since, she had been dancing with the literal devil - or a so called one - while the fate of the world hung in the balance of their hands. It is sad when you realize that whole thing makes more sense than some of the things her first teammates have done in the past few years.</p><p>Today, after aliens, gods and monsters and fucking sorcerers, demons and immortals, androids, cyborgs, murderous robots and semi-sentient rocks of infinite power, stepping through a doorway in America and exiting on the other side into Asia is a normal occurrence in her life. Say what you will, but Stark definitely thought she deserved a medal for dealing with all of this shit as well as she has been doing since day one. Though she know, partially, it was all thanks to Stephen and how he integrated himself so gently into her life, introducing her to new things with care and consideration for her own comfort regarding such things. Really, she would have gone mad without him <em>years </em>ago and it made her wonder just how much different her life would have been had she met him before she made a reputation for herself that wasn't nearly as flattering as she used to pretend it to be.</p><p>In the past eleven years, Stephen had practically always been there for her when she needed him the most, in one way or the others. She owed him her life more times than she can count, not to mention some of the things he had done for her over the years that he usually never would have gotten involved in otherwise. Extremis, Sokovia, Rhodey's legs - she will never tell the man that he only walked today because of Strange. He needs to see for himself that Stephen wasn't a bad guy and not just because he felt obliged to because he found out the man saved his life and his legs that day - Siberia and even Thanos and especially the Avengers, to an extent. He had never before revealed his true age and identity to so many people, but he had done it for her in order to ease life for her, if only a little.</p><p>And in the last year, ever since they made up after two months after their first ever fight and then got together, he had practically worshiped the ground she walked on, waiting on her every whim and Toni could do nothing to dissuade him form such behavior. He said he wanted to, having waited for ten years to get the chance to be more than a friend to her and there was nothing she could do about it but enjoy his attentions. He wasn't obnoxious or overwhelming, just extremely thoughtful and made her feel like she was really some goddess he had sworn his eternal allegiance to. He whispered words of love to her and kissed or held her every chance he got. He respected her moods and didn't interfere with her schedule unless she was burning herself out, which is when he would appear through one of his portals and whisk her away from whoever was trying to get her attention without a made appointment - FRIDAY and JARVIS were always more than happy to tell him her schedule since they always want her to get some proper rest and food in her, especially with the amount of calories she should be intaking with the Extremis burning through her veins - and get her to eat and sleep or just relax for a short while. There were even a few times he had used the Time Stone - whose properties he had been eager to master, even with whatever knowledge the other Stranges had shared with him during their dimension hopping trip in sorcerer Tony Stark's dimension - to stop time just so she'd have enough time to rest between stressful meetings. She would have chastised him for cheating had she not truly needed the hours he bought her and just ended up snuggled against him as they sat outside of frozen time. Toni truly wondered what she'd do without him sometimes.</p><p>She couldn't even imagine life without him after all this time! It seemed impossible to her now. You don't spend over a decade with someone only to lose them, especially if you're both immortal and there were jokes of a practically celestial marriage between you already.</p><p>Which was why the sight before her eyes refused to register. It simply made no sense. How could it, when Stephen acted as though he'd rather let the universe destroy itself than let Toni come to harm? She had lost count on how many times he had told her just how much she meant to him and that was even before they got into this relationship and he was allowed to say it to his heart's content without fearing her freaking out about it. Which only caused the image before her to make even less sense.</p><p>He had been chasing her for <em>ten years</em>. It couldn't be that one year was ... <em>more than enough</em> ... right? Enough for him to lose interest? It just <em>couldn't </em>be!</p><p>And yet that was the only explanation Toni's logical mind could draw as she watched the heartbreaking sight before her.</p><p>There, in front of her, sitting with his back partially turned to her on one of the only couches/benches in Kamar-Taj, was Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, in all of his powerful glory. Only he wasn't as meticulously presentable as he usually is. His crimson sleeveless training robes, showing off his biceps and triceps, were open, crumbled and messed up, his usually neat hair was all over the place and there was a dark, very obvious hickey on his pale neck, visible to Toni even all the way from the doorway, especially due to Extremis. What truly knocked all the breath out of her lungs was the fact that he wasn't alone.</p><p>For in his lap sat a stunningly beautiful, bleach blonde woman, seemingly taller than Toni about two inches, making her 5'8'' stand much better next to Stephen's six feet height. Toni, at her own 5'4'', had always secretly been jealous of any woman who stood closer to a height with Stephen but wouldn't admit it to her death. The blonde's hair was slightly curled and came about to her shoulders and she had the body of a gymnastic, dressed in some strange one piece seemingly spandex suit that hugged her like a second skin, showing off all of her curves. Perhaps for the first time in her life, Toni felt inadequate in the presence of another woman. The woman had her head thrown back and her eyes closed, but when they opened, she saw they were narrow and slightly almond shaped and a crystal blue that reminded her of early dawn sky with thick lashes and red lips that looked as though made for kissing and high and sharp cheekbones to match Stephen's. The woman paid her no heed and moaned and only hen did Toni realize she was moving, bouncing up and down with her hands thrown around Stephen's neck and it all clicked into place.</p><p>The woman's clothing was slightly opened where her womanhood was and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on right there as the blond continued bouncing in the Sorcerer Supreme's lap while said man's girlfriend could only watch from the doorway. The woman seemed to lack an ounce of shame, Toni's presence seemingly only turning her on even more as she sped up and her panting got louder. Toni took notice of Stephen's hands on the woman's waist but she couldn't tell if he was urging her on or if he was only holding her around that impossibly slim waist to ground himself instead of getting swept away from the pleasure he must be feeling. Not that Toni cared to stay long enough to inquire about it.</p><p>She couldn't stand the scene before her. She couldn't. Not when not even twenty four hours ago, she and Stephen had been sharing a bed, his arms firmly around her, as though afraid to ever let her go. Not when he had almost made her late to her first meeting of the day because he didn't want to let go until she gave him a good morning kiss, no matter how much in a hurry she had been. Not when all of their promises and confessions still rang so loudly in her head.</p><p>
        <em>Toni trialed off into laughter as she caught Stephen's confused expression as she explained the mechanics behind her repulsors on her newest suit, completely caught off guard when he just smiled at her, eyes lighting up.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"You know, I'd date you, especially when you laugh like that."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"What?" The genius inventor couldn't stop her eyes from widening at his declaration, floored for a second before the man in front of her smirked in a way that told her she had been doped.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"You sound like the Mad Hatter, It's very amusing."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>He continued chuckling even as he kept dodging the tools Toni kept throwing at his head.</em>
      </p><p>So she did something she had never done before.</p><p>
        <em>"You asked me what you are to me." Toni flinched when she recalled that conversation, but her companion only chuckled. When she tried to pull away again, he simply leaned his forehead against hers, having to bend down even though she was in heels, and Toni stilled. "To me, Toni, you are my humanity, for I have forgotten what it is like to be human after all these years. You, who are so much like me, remind me of what it was like to go through all these trials just to survive, to do the right thing. You reminded me what it means to care. You were a breath of fresh air - you didn't kiss ass and you weren't fawning over me and let's not even begin how refreshing it was to speak with someone of equal, if not greater, intellect as myself after all these years of being surrounded by narrow-minded fools - and I wasn't ready to give you up. But that turned into real care, Toni. I didn't want to lose you. So I got invested." She tried not to blush but Stephen was just smiling at her as though she had hung the stars and the moon, as if she outshone the sun itself. If her heart hammered any stronger against her chest, she might bust an artery on the casing of the Arc Reactor. "I wasn't going to let you go. Which included checking in on you. I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier."</em>
      </p><p>Something that hadn't ever occurred to her to do even in the most dire and dangerous of situations.</p><p>
        <em>"You didn't have to stay with me, you know," Toni mumbled halfheartedly to Stephen as the fifth or so girl walked away after making her intentions known about what she wanted from the man and yet Stephen remained firmly by her side. It was already three hours since the event began and the both of them have received a fair amount of attention and while Toni was content to continue abstain</em>
        <em>ing, there was no reason why Stephen couldn't take a girl home, no matter how much she was, for reasons unknown - or ones she wasn't ready to accept yet - disgusted or saddened by the thought. "You could have gone with her."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"With whom?" The sorcerer, for once dressed in utterly modern high class clothing and looking as handsome as ever, frowned at her as though in confusion and Toni tried her best to hide her smile behind her champagne flute. He was such a charmer.</em>
      </p><p>Toni Stark ran and never looked back, tears blurring her vision as she passed through the doorway and zoomed out of the New York Sanctum in her suit as fast as she could, desperate to get away from the scene that had so broken her heart. And when she got to the Tower and locked herself in her private lab - thanking whatever deity had prompted the kids to go out for lunch - she did something she hadn't done since she had been dying of palladium poisoning.</p><p><em>"You know, </em>they <em>are married. Why can't we do it?"</em></p><p>She opened a bottle of scotch and drank herself under the table with enough alcohol to give <em>Thor </em>alcohol poisoning.</p><p>
        <em>"I love you. I love you more than there are iterations of the universe."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Toni wondered if it was normal to choke up at such a heartfelt declaration as moonlight bathed their bodies in an almost ethereal way even as she snuggled deeper into Stephen's chest and tried not to actually cry of happiness as she echoed the words into eternity and infinity and beyond.</em>
      </p><p>Had she looked back, she would have seen Stephen losing almost all color as the woman with him smirked and continued her joyride while the immortal did nothing but stare with empty eyes. She would have realized something was wrong.</p><p>As it was, it was up to an unexpected someone to inform her as much.</p><p>Hopefully, before it was too late.</p></div></div></div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>
        <em>Toni knew she was dreaming.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>As soon as she became aware of the space around her, she knew she was dreaming. She had to be, because she knew this was probably the only explanation in existence to the weird bald lady standing in front of her in yellow robes she could easily identify as belonging to a sorcerer of Kamar-Taj, only she had never seen this woman before. She was sure she would have remembered her, she was kind of very hard to forget. She had an aura around her that was calm, knowledgeable, wise but powerful and serious. Something about her, though, made Toni's hairs stand on end and chills run down her spine. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the bald woman was of the Dark Dimension. Even with only one or two encounters with it and the power Stephen has over it, it was a sensation one doesn't simply forget.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>That, too, was what made her decide this to be a dream. Stephen had once told her that things from other dimensions can cross into their's through dreams.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>The final box needing to be ticked for it to be a dream was when it turned out this woman knew her name.</em>
      </p><p><em>"Antonia Edith Stark," the woman said by way of greeting. Toni had to give it the benefit of the doubt that it was real, though because </em>seriously<em>, not only constructs of her own mind knew her name. She was actually pretty sure there wasn't a single person on Earth who didn't know her by name. And after the Thanos fiasco and the Guardians of the Galaxy saying they'll spread her story, it's quite possible a good part of the universe knows her name by now. But something in the way this woman said her name made her think this was kind of personal and that made Stark rather wary of her. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a very long, long time now."</em></p><p><em>"I don't mean to sound rude, but if you've wanted to chat with me, you could have made an appointment with my secretary." </em>'Or one of my AIs, to be more precise, but it's not like she'll know that ... Or maybe she will if she really is a figment of my imagination.'<em> "Sure, I know my schedule is packed for the next year but that doesn't excuse you invading my dreams, dream person. Maybe I could have squeezed you in if you'd just called or something." Sarcasm. The best way to annoy someone and throw them off rhythm, making them follow your lead instead of leading the conversation. Toni didn't know how many times and how many people she had doped with this technique. Even her closest friends had fallen for it more than once. Only her AIs and Stephen had never succumbed to its effects.</em></p><p>
        <em>The bald woman, though, just regarded her with this serene little smile, a knowing glint in her eyes that reminded Toni an awful lot of the first night she had met Strange. Much like back then, it made her uneasy for a complete stranger to be looking at her so. It's unnerving but at least she had gotten used to it coming from Stephen. Especially that ancient spark in his eyes. For some reason, this woman shared it, only her eyes seemed even older and that was scary as all hell. "I find it rather curious that you have already managed to discern this as more than a normal dream, no matter your denial of it. It speaks of a higher level of sorcery than most masters ever get to accomplish."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"That's what you get as a result of sharing minds with your alternate self that just so happens to be the first ever Vice Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and also the Chosen Contender for the Infinity Stones, but that second part appears to come with the package deal of being Tony/Toni Stark," she shrugged, wondering what to make of the woman. For reasons unknown, Toni felt like she should know her in some way or capacity.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Ah, yes, you're very unique bond with the Stones, the very instigators of the creation of the multiverse," baldie nodded, that mysterious smile twitching upwards further in something akin to wonder, only confusing Toni more. This woman made no sense to her whatsoever. She seemed to notice because her smile turned more polite and lest mystic. "Where are my manners? I apologize. You might know me as the Ancient One. I believe Stephen has mentioned me?"</em>
      </p><p><em>Well, </em>that <em>at least made sense. The yellow robes, the mysterious behavior, the bald head. Toni suddenly felt a bit intimidated to be standing in front of Stephen's former master and teacher. Wong had miscalculated when he said only three women besides Stephen's mother and sister had impacted his life. The Ancient One definitely deserved to be on that list. "Of course-" She trailed off, however, when she 'remembered' the time span before she fell asleep, possibly because of the absurd amounts of alcohol she had consumed in a vain attempt to forget what she had seen.</em></p><p><em>Wong had </em>definitely <em>miscalculated. From what she had seen, there was an easy familiarity to that blonde woman's movement as she rode Stephen on the couch. Maybe Strange had simply never informed Wong of finding a new fling because he knew the stout man would tell Toni and he'd have a bit of a riot at his hands from the rest of the sorcerers. Toni was definitely Kamar-Taj's favorite visitor and they'd be pissed if their Sorcerer Supreme managed to chase her off because of his own libido.</em></p><p>
        <em>"That's actually what I am here for," the Ancient One said, as though reading her thoughts. Then again, this was a dream or some sort of dream space or whatever. Or maybe she could just do that, like Stephen said he could if he bothered to try. "That woman-"</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Is none of my business and I'd like to keep it that way," the billionaire said firmly, not wanting to have anything to do with Strange cheating on her, even in this freaky dream. She'd very much like to wake up now, please, so she can get to getting over it as soon as possible so she can move on with her life. If Strange wanted to end things on this note, then so be it.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>She was already debating ways to avoid an all powerful sorcerer for eternity when the Ancient One continued her sentence as though Toni hadn't said anything at all, which was kind of rude- "Is a danger to Stephen the likes of which he had never faced or prepared for." -but it seemed to be fully justified and immediately caught Stark's interest. Especially the danger bit. What was dangerous for Strange was most assuredly a danger to the rest of the universe, too, and Toni would like to keep it safe, thank you. For as long as possible. "Not necessarily, but she could be."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Stop reading my mind and get to the point already!" Please do excuse her for snapping, but she had a bad day whole day yesterday and mindreaders were not her favorite sort. Never have been and never will be. Why weren't JARVIS and FRIDAY waking her up already?</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"That woman you've seen is not at all what she seems, both literally and the way you have perceived her," the Ancient One said gravely, all traces of her earlier smile and serenity gone. Only worry radiated off of her now and it was in waves. That, if anything, made Toni stop thinking of waking up and she listened. This was the former Sorcerer Supreme. She deserved that much respect. "Her name is Clea and she is of the Dark Dimension. She and Stephen have struck a bargain about a century after my death, but it seems Stephen has called it off and Clea came to collect."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>A cold dread and a vicious fear churned in Toni's stomach. "What do you mean, she's of the Dark Dimension? What was the bargain? Why did Strange break it?"</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>But the bald woman only shook her head. "Those are all questions of great importance but ones whose answers you can find on your own. You will awaken soon and I don't believe I'll manage to contact you again, so other things must take priority."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Toni wanted to rage at her for letting anything take priority over Stephen's safety, but knew she had no right and no place to talk. The Ancient One was the one with the knowledge of what to do in a situation like this and she had apparently taken great lengths to reach out to Toni and inform her. The best she could do at this point is to hope the answer to her questions might come in whatever the Ancient One wanted to tell her.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Or maybe this really is all just a crazy dream and Toni was trying to find deeper meaning in it when there is none. Maybe seeing Stephen with another woman was too much and her mind was trying to make things up so she doesn't go through an emotional breakdown. However, she wasn't going to potentially risk the fate of the world just because she was starting to doubt her own sanity. It wasn't about her or any other single person. It's about everyone. It's about the universe and its balance. Even if she's the one that's supposed to help bring about that balance.</em>
      </p><p><em>"Then what </em>are<em> those things that must take priority, so important to the point you have interrupted your own peaceful death after three hundred years just to tell me about it?"</em></p><p>
        <em>"The position of Sorcerer Supreme is being put in danger," the older woman said, getting straight to the point, which Toni was grateful for. She hated beating around the bush. "By the very woman you saw Stephen with. She desires it, has been desiring it for a very long time, but she has never made an attempt to claim the position because, despite appearances and presumptions, she's not a very powerful individual. More than the privileges of the Sorcerer Supreme, though, she desired reign over the Dark Dimension, like her mother before her, only Dormammu remained undefeated for millennia. Neither of them had any hope whatsoever of ever taking over, not against him."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"But then Strange came along and took the fucker down." And stole his power and inherited all of his dimensions and influence in the multiverse, but at this point, that went without saying.</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>The bald woman nodded in agreement. "Correct."</em>
      </p><p><em>"So, if I were to give an educated guess, I'd say this Clea, judging by her history as you've told me, probably is using Stephen to somehow get control over the Dark Dimension and, </em>maybe<em>, somehow, the position as Sorcerer Supreme."</em></p><p>
        <em>"Your guess would be spot on." Well ... "And that is the problem."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"I thought Strange is immortal," Toni kind of asked, confused. "I don't see how some random woman, even one from the Dark Dimension, could endanger him and his position."</em>
      </p><p><em>"Stephen Strange came into his position as ruler of the Dark Dimension by absorbing all that is Dormammu," the Ancient One said as though impatient for Toni to see the picture, her words coming out in a rush. Then again, she </em>did<em> say this was a dream and that Toni could end up being woken up any moment now. "What do you think would happen if he, in turn, is drained? </em>Who<em> do you think would rule the Dark Dimension then? And what state would Earth be without its Sorcerer Supreme to protect it? Dormammu's power may not be all that is Stephen Strange, but he is three hundred years old. Losing his immortality now can end in only one way and that will be catastrophic. Toni Stark, you must-"</em></p><p>Toni woke with a gasp, Extremis reacting and a repulsor being pointed at the worried but always spidey-senses ready Peter Parker who had a hand on her shoulder and seems to have been the one who had woken her up. Harley Keener and Princess Shuri watched with concern from the doorway, ready to duck out of the way should she fire or evade Peter's catching hands that prevented her from harming the teen(s). This was obviously a calculated move on their part as Peter was the most likely to survive waking her up in her current state. Toni looked around at the mess she had made and felt shame crawling in. It would seem she had fairly trashed her lab last night - judging from the time J immediately recited for her while FRI dictated the amount of rubbish Extremis had to burn out of her system - in her hurry to forget what had happened and now her two pseudo sons and the young teenage girl that had claimed her for the elder sister she had never had - and the type of elder sibling she had always <em>wanted</em> to have, no matter how much she loved T'Challa - had to witness their mentor doing such a stupid thing. She didn't deserve their respect and admiration.</p><p>"Are you okay, Ms Stark? No offense, but you don't look like you feel too good."</p><p>"In other words, I look like shit. Yeah, I know, Pete. Sorry you had to see that," the woman groaned and thanked her lucky stars that she had something as amazing as Extremis or else she would be hung over as fuck right now. Still, when she stood up a bit too fast, she swayed and had to let young Spider-Man to hold her up lest she face-plant right away. "Wow, okay. I can deal with that. You know, I had the <em>strangest</em> dream."</p><p>"Never mind <em>that</em>," Harley, as always, didn't beat around the bush. "What the hell <em>happened</em>?! You've never resorted to alcohol in all the years that I've known you to solve your goddamn problems! Why now?"</p><p>The memories from yesterday flashed before her mind's eye and her face darkened. So much for forgetting. Not that she'd really thought it would work. Or that she was even thinking at that point, for the books. "Doesn't matter. It won't happen again. You guys don't need to be dealing with an ex alcoholic's relapse into bad habits."</p><p>The blond teen looked ready to refute that whole statement but Shuri, bless her genius self and kind heart, must have picked up on something and realized Toni didn't want to talk about it because she shushed Harley and he let it be. Still, he looked ready to make a comment on something when suddenly, a familiar sparkling portal opened and Toni couldn't help but tense up, expecting Stephen to step through and trying to decide whether she was ready to face the music - or reality - when, in a sick deja vu moment, out stepped Wong instead. The Asian looked even more worried than the last time they talked like this and that set alarm bells in Toni's head. This was so not good. She can feel it to her bones.</p><p>But before anyone could speak or ask him anything, he looked Stark square in the eye and said one single, short sentence.</p><p>"We have a problem."</p><p>And that was just the beginning.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>"He's been like this since yesterday late afternoon," Wong explained as Toni examined Strange on the same couch as she'd last seen him, only he was deathly pale and tied down. Wong had told them he had intended to ask Toni something and, knowing she was most likely with the Sorcerer Supreme and knowing he won't be able to find her without his help either way, he had sought Strange out, only to find him here, like this. Only, additionally to his current state, there had been about ten different binding spells to hold him down. As he explained their placements, clearly out of sight of anyone looking from the doorway, Toni had a moment of doubt as to what she had seen. It could have been a kinky bondage thing, but her dream wouldn't leave her mind. If that had truly been the late Ancient One and not a figment of her mind, then they had a serious problem. "We've managed to keep it from the apprentices and the newbies, but the masters all know. They are prepared to take on the bulk of his duties until we find out what caused this. I thought you might be able to help. Was he fine yesterday when you last saw him?"</p><p>Toni hesitated, the memory of when she last saw him resurfacing once again with bitter clarity and she grimaced. "I ... honestly don't know." She debated explaining. She saw her three protégés all looking at her expectantly - they had refused to leave her side after her 'fainting spell' and had come along with her and Wong when the Asian sorcerer took her to Kamar-Taj - and looked back at Wong. "Can we speak privately for a moment?"</p><p>The man eyed the teens she cared about more than her own life, frowned but nodded, taking them into the Mirror Dimension. Well, there was nothing more private than that, she'll have to admit. Except her own mind. "Yes?" Wong asked, even as they observed how the teens complained to each other about not being kids. Harley, despite being the most put out by this turn of the events, took it the best and with the most grace. He was used to Toni putting his safety and well-being above everything else. The other two were still getting used to it.</p><p>"Okay, a few things first," the genius started, internally wondering if she was crazy or if she'll sound like it when she starts putting her thoughts into words. "One, last night, I think I got visited by the Ancient One." At Wong's stunned stare breaking through his usually impassive expression, Toni quickly explained. "I think it's the Soul Stone's doing. Or at least it helped her. She warned me about Strange being in danger." She ignored the arched eyebrow she received for her way of address towards Stephen. They had been well past last names years ago. It must be surprising to hear her call him Strange again. "Two, I thing his soul is being sucked dry of energy. Another ability the Soul Stone granted me," she added when the other gave her an incredulous look. "He feels weak like I've never sensed him before. Three, I didn't spend any time with Strange yesterday. I saw him with-"</p><p>She stopped talking when one of the masters walked into the room and stopped upon seeing the teens, the unconscious Sorcerer Supreme and no trace of Wong or Toni. He hesitated but Wong brought them back and the man relaxed a bit but still looked worried. "One of the acolytes says she thinks she knows who did this." He hesitated and sounded disbelieving with what he said next. "She says she saw Ms Stark leaving Master Strange here yesterday in a hurry and that no one else came in here after that."</p><p>"She's blaming Toni?!" Shuri sounded as incredulous as her fellow teens and Toni herself felt.</p><p>"Toni would never do that!" Harley immediately rebutted, glaring at the unfortunate messenger, who didn't look like he believed that, either. "What would she even get from turning her own boyfriend of one year into a plant?!"</p><p>"The rest of us don't believe that, either, but Ms Clea says she's certain she saw right."</p><p>Toni felt her blood turn cold and Extremis burn just beneath her skin.</p><p>-Sir, are you quite alright?- JARVIS asked, sounding as worried as ever. Toni repressed her urge to start tapping the Arc Reactor with restless fingers. She did not need the armor responding now.</p><p>"If you don't mind, I'd like to question her myself. She's not a common presence in Kamar-Taj. Why, I think I last saw her ten years ago." Wong commented and walked out with the master into a room full of other masters of all ranks and levels, Toni following after them, facial recognition run by JARVIS and FRIDAY as she scanned the faces. It wasn't easy but she found what she thought to be Clea in the crowd. Only her eyes were a warm, rich honey brown and her hair was short and as blond as Carol's. She resembled almost nothing the woman who had been riding Stephen yesterday, but Toni trusted her AIs and her own memory. The woman before her wasn't as breathtakingly beautiful nor was she otherworldly. She even looked a bit older, crows feet at the corner of her eyes.</p><p>There was no mistaking that cold feeling Toni got when she looked at her, or the iciness in her gaze. She wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed the first time, but Clea carried the feeling of the Dark Dimension as much as the Ancient One did, only she felt malicious in general.</p><p>And yet, instead of being the enemy the Ancient One claimed her to be, she was an acolyte, a sorcerer of Kamar-Taj.</p><p>The name was too much of a coincident and her timing was a bit too convenient.</p><p>"Ms Clea, a pleasure to see you again," Wong greeted with a nod and she returned it with a shallow bow before her eyes glared daggers at Toni.</p><p>"What is <em>she</em> doing here? Come to finish the job?"</p><p>Peter actually bristled on her behalf and Harley took a step forward in warning, but Toni held them back. "How can you be sure it was me when you've never seen me before."</p><p>Clea snorted, crossing her arms and looking at Toni as though she were stupid. "Only an idiot or a caveman wouldn't be able to recognize Toni Stark on sight."</p><p>"Hm, and what color are my eyes?"</p><p>"What? You don't have a mirror? They're some weird blue." Toni's face set into a grim expression. So it was as she had feared. The dream <em>was</em> real, or as real as it can be. It was a warning. Even if Toni's eyes did slip into the glowing Extremis blue, the entire world knows well enough that Toni Stark had chocolate mixed with honey and whiskey brow eyes. Only someone <em>not of this world</em> wouldn't know. Toni almost wanted for that dream to be just that because it would have been a personal pain and not a threat to their reality.</p><p>Wong, whom she'd just started telling about the Ancient One coming to her in her dream to warn her of a threat, caught on to how tense Toni was and connected the dots. "Ms Clea, what is the purpose of your visit? You haven't been with us for such a long time, why come now and so suddenly?"</p><p>Clea never let her eyes leave Toni even as she addressed the answer to the librarian. "As always, I have private business with Stephen. We ran into a bump so I'll be staying a little longer than usual. That's okay, right?" She finally looked to the man she was speaking to, flashing at him a stunning smile as though charm alone will be enough to sway Wong to her side. Toni hissed when the Soul Stone suddenly pulsed on her hand, growing almost unbearably hot but then that lost presidence to the fact that the pulse pushed back a subtle manipulation spell, knocking Clea backwards by several steps from where she had tried to control them all. It was more powerful than Toni would have expected. <em>Stephen </em>powerful.</p><p>"Traitor!" Called one of the other acolytes, pointing a finger at her and Wong and the other masters immediately tried to restrain her, but Clea escaped through a portal seemingly made of dark matter and everyone froze, knowing where she had just gone.</p><p>"Someone get Master Hamir," Wong said in the stunned silence, grabbing Toni's elbow and dragging her out. "We need a consultation with him post haste." And as soon as they were out, he turned to Toni. "My family is not the only one that has served Kamar-Taj and our Sorcerer Supreme faithfully. Master Hamir is the third in line by now and his young granddaughter will be forth. His ancestors joined our order about two hundred years ago. While my bloodline is older, he is the more experienced of the two of us. He should know to tell us more about this dark magic user."</p><p>They went back with the kids in tow to the still bound Sorcerer Supreme, where they waited for the old man to come. As he assisted part time in guarding the Hong Kong Sanctum, he sometimes left Kamar-Taj for days but Stephen and other masters can call him back whenever he is needed. As they waited, Toni noted that Clea woman had the decency to cover Stephen's member, but only halfheartedly with his own robes, not tucking him away. Probably to either humiliate him or to prevent people from figuring out how she had distracted the almighty master of the Dark Dimension in order to bind him so. The billionaire dutifully tucked him away with an ease that came with practice one shouldn't mention or think around children, even teenage ones, before starting on the task of unbinding him. FRIDAY already had the entire room scanned and turned into a virtual walk through should any specific placements mean anything to Master Hamir or anyone else. Great care was taken in unbinding Stephen's fingers, Toni's own running along some of his scars, thinking this might so easily be the last time she has the privilege to touch them, no matter how this ends. Even though his hands were healed and his scars have faded, Stephen was still sensitive where his hands were concerned. Given everything that has happened and that might happen in the near future, this was probably it. She honestly thought their end would come quite a bit later, but one thing she knew for sure and that was that things in life are never certain.</p><p>As she untied him, Toni looked around distractedly for the overprotective, ever present Cloak of Levitation. It should be here somewhere, it was usually never far from its chosen master's side. In fact, something like this should have never happened with that magical piece of outerwear around. The Cloak was a huge fan of Toni. Stephen had even joked that it would stay with Toni if another fight like their first ever happened again, as it had been unbearable since then until they saw each other again and Toni believed it. It would have stopped any form of cheating if it had been present. Had Stephen sent it away? Left it some place until he is done here? Told it to leave him alone with his lover so it wouldn't strangle them both for the betrayal of Toni's fragile heart? Or had Clea gotten rid of it so she could go through with her plan undisturbed.</p><p>
        <em>'What was she hoping to get from blaming me for this, though? I'm far from a sorcerer, despite all that my alternate self shared with the rest of us.'</em>
      </p><p>Just then, the doors opened and in stepped the good, old Asian, one-handed man, Master Hamir, dressed in his well worn sky blue robes, mustache as trimmed and groomed as ever. He did a small bow in greeting to the present company and frowned at the still form of his Sorcerer Supreme. "Dear Vishanti, I had heard Master Strange wasn't well but I had never thought it could be <em>this</em> bad. I can practically <em>feel</em> his energy being seeped away."</p><p>"Master Hamir specialized his studies in seals, bindings and symbols of power," Wong explained to the teenagers, since Toni actually had quite a number of encounters with the man to learn that by now already. After she started dating Stephen, she came to Kamar-Taj at least once a month, for a day or two, much to the sorcerers' delight. Strange still pouted when they stole her away from him and his plans to hog her all for himself. "He should be able to help."</p><p>"Master Wong has already explained the seals he suspects were in play, but I can still feel one more active," Master Hamir said, stepping closer to where Toni finally got rid of the last of Strange's bindings.</p><p>"You can get rid of it, right?" Peter, hopeful, asked, looking for some good news in the whirlwind of shit that's been happening in the last twenty four hours.</p><p>To all of their disappointment and worry, Hamir shook his head. "I'm afraid the seal was brought into being by a deal or bargain made between two parties. What worries me is that this seals carries its origins to Dormammu's, well, 'family'."</p><p>"Family?" Toni asked skeptically, her mind whirling and dissecting the information given to her. The Ancient One had said Clea was not of this world. Toni herself got the chills she usually associated with the Dark Dimension and its energies, which she had become somewhat familiar with given how much time she spends around its master of three hundred years. The Ancient One said Clea wanted the Dark Dimension for herself.</p><p><em>"Stephen Strange came into his position as ruler of the Dark Dimension by absorbing all that is Dormamu. </em><em>What do you think would happen if he, in turn, is drained? </em>Who<em> do you think would rule the Dark Dimension then?"</em></p><p>This was <em>so</em> not good.</p><p>Hamir nodded, having expected that question. "We call Dormammu a demon, but he is truly more of a 'god' like creature with infinite power. His kind is rare and he is a being of pure magic. Never before has one of his kind been killed. Master Strange achieved a miracle when he absorbed all that is Dormammu and destroyed what has been his essence in doing so. Dormammu, though, isn't the only one, just the most powerful one there is. He has a sister, his parents and a niece, I believe."</p><p>"The name Clea wouldn't happen to ring a bell, would it?"</p><p>The old man's eyes widened and he looked at her with trepidation. "The niece. She is of the Dark Dimension, born to Dormammu's sister. She is powerful but has always been an ally of Kamar-Taj. She and Master Strange did indeed have a bargain. I do not know its particularities, but I do know my ancestors never trusted her. Those of the Dark Dimension are not to be trusted."</p><p>"What kind of deal did Stephen strike with her?" Toni asked, her eyes locked on Stephen's ashen face. He looked ill. In fact, she was sure he looked worse off now than he had when she had arrived. Whatever this was, it was seriously taking its toil on the man. What she found curious, though, was that the Eye of Agamotto remained in its rightful place and Toni could still feel the Time Stone pulsing within, though she could have sworn something was wrong right there.</p><p>"I don't know the full details, but I do know Stephen had agreed to feed her the energy she would need in order to stay in our dimension. I don't know what he got in exchange, but my family kept records that said Clea used to visit a few times a year, seeming to appear at random. I also know Master Strange trained her in the Mystic Arts."</p><p>"And what about the seal? What can you do about it? Hopefully, you can get rid of it. I mean, it <em>is</em> a product of the Mystic Arts, right?"</p><p>Hamir actually paused to think about it before going over to Stephen, hand glowing with magic as he scanned the seal still active. After a moment, he shook his head. "If Clea is indeed the one who placed these seals-"</p><p>"Believe me, she is," Toni assured, rage surging now at the thought of what she had seen.</p><p>Hamir nodded, surprised by her anger, but continued none the less. "Then the sealing technique is not one I know. <em>However</em>," he stressed before anyone could interrupt him with cries of dismay. "I recognize where she might have picked it up." There was a pause, everyone quieting for a moment, expecting for him to tell them the location on his own. When he didn't, or was simply taking too long for his liking, Harley snapped an impatient "Well?", to which Master Hamir only snorted something about 'youth these days' having no respect for their elders. Thankfully, he did give them an answer, one Toni completely agreed with in sentiment.</p><p>"Hell."</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>"What do you mean, Hell?" Shuri asked, looking outright confused and not liking it one bit. She wasn't used to the feeling, after all. She was usually one of the few who always understood what was going on in any crowd. "I though Doctor Strange was the devil."</p><p>"Stephen rules only a portion of Hell," Wong explained, looking once again as non-pulsed as ever. "Many beings from different dimensions hold portions of other dimensions in their own domain. Dormammu used to 'collect' as many as he could get his hands on, so his was the largest and Stephen got it all when he took Dormammu's place in the multiverse. A portion of Hell was a part of it. The actual Lord of Hell is an immortal, practically omniscient being by the name of Mephisto. He is the 'real' devil."</p><p>"He is also a powerful magic user who knows many tricks," Master Hamir added. "Stephen made a bargain with him to not add any more of his realm to his own domain in exchange for some lessons in spells humans can never learn unless taught by someone like him."</p><p>"Wait, as in the devil Mephistopheles from 'Faust'? <em>That</em> Mephisto? He's actually <em>real</em>?" Peter asked, sounding incredulous and somewhat scared. "Is he going to try and make a deal in which we sell our souls to him for his help?"</p><p>"Not if I can help it," Toni said confidently, standing up from where she had been kneeling in front of Stephen. They had a part of the solution, or at least a hint for where to search it for. She wasn't about to ask questions regarding religion or dramatic poetry when Stephen was looking weaker and weaker by the moment. "How do we find him? And will Stephen last long enough for us to come back with a cure?"</p><p>"Mephisto resides in Hell. A simple portal can get you to him," the older Asian sorcerer replied immediately, sounding sure. "As for the time Master Strange has left, I'd say a day, maybe a couple hours longer. If Mephisto has a solution, we'll need to act quick if it's a complicated one. However, I worry about his health while we run around, searching for a cure. His body is failing him as quickly as his energy is being sucked away. I fear he needs a doctor. One whom we can trust."</p><p>Toni and Wong exchanged a look. "I think we know one fit for the job," the stout sorcerer replied and she gave a grim nod.</p><p>Time to meet one of Stephen's exes.</p><p>00000</p><p>Dr Christine Palmer had been having a perfectly normal day off when a portal opened out of nowhere in what looked like her living room and out through it stepped none other than Toni Stark, Iron Maiden herself. Toni watched in fascination how the poor woman freaked out for a second before forcing herself to calm down and listen to one of Earth's mightiest heroes explain. Toni was sure the only reason she wasn't hyperventilating or having a mental breakdown as she was told her old colleague, friend and boyfriend was a wizard and was currently having magical problems and that she was needed to monitor him while his current girlfriend had to go <em>to Hell and back</em> in order to find a cure.</p><p>In the time it took Dr Palmer to calm down a little and prepare what she thought might be necessary to look after what is practically a comatose patient, Toni observed the last woman Stephen had been with before herself. Brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and about her height, only she wasn't of the same compact built Toni herself was and her skin was a few shades paler. Still, Dr Palmer was a beautiful, successful, intelligent and kind woman. Toni wasn't sure why Stephen had broken it off with her. He could have very easily told her the truth - she was freaking out but at least she didn't seem scared; she was just relieved Stephen wasn't dead, like the woman had presumed after his 'accident' - and she would have understood. Toni had and Toni <em>hated</em> all things magical. He should have given her the benefit of the doubt.</p><p>Upon stepping through the portal, Christine unfortunately lost her lunch, not at all used to such jarring sensations. Toni, while queasy, had never really had a problem with Strange's portals. Some people felt their ears pop when a portal opens or get 'sea sick' on dry land when stepping through one, but Toni had always had the stomach for adventure and easily got used to the strange feeling. It helped that Stephen had always been a source of comfort and safety for her so she had always known he will never harm her.</p><p>Christine nearly panicked when she saw how ill Stephen looked. Now put in a lying position on the same couch he had been in all this time, covered with a blanket because it would seem he had started shivering, Stephen had never looked so weak and fragile as he did then. Toni had seen him vulnerable before, usually when confessing something to her, but she had never seen him like this and it tore at her heart. It was nearly in pieces when Palmer started carding her fingers through his sweaty hair while holding back tears, whispering everything would be okay and that she was there to take care of him now. Strange would have never cheated on someone as good as Dr Palmer.</p><p>Toni guessed she deserved this for all the things she had done in her life, all the guys she stood up or pretended not to remember.</p><p><em>The bill comes due, alway</em>s, as Stephen's once friend and mentor, Mordo, would say. Her bill was here and it hurt.</p><p>Still, Master Hamir and Christine will be enough to take care of Strange while she goes to Hell. Quite literally. She only hates that besides JARVIS and FRIDAY, she would be taking three stubborn teens she considered her own with her. Peter, Harley and Shuri <em>refused</em> to let her go on her own and the two sorcerers agreed it would be a good idea to have backup. Toni would have preferred adult help - Rhodey, Carol, maybe T'Challa - but she quite frankly didn't trust them with a mission like this. And as far as the Accords and the UN Councils were concerned, she had a day off to spend with her sorcerer boyfriend who had bench-pressed Thanos by himself, in a matter of minutes, without breaking a sweat. They weren't keen on pissing him off, that was for sure.</p><p>"See you in a minute," Toni said to the ones staying when Wong opened a portal for them, the landscape on the other side resembling a flaming, burning version of an ancient Greek city meeting the Middle Ages. She took a deep breath, activated her suit and sighed in relief as the armor engulfed her from head to toe. That was much better. She stepped through the portal with Wong first, then Peter in the Iron Spider suit, Shuri with her battle gear, war paint and fighting attire and finally Harley in the Rescue armor, basically a far better and more subtle version of the War Machine armor. Wong had a mandala shield glowing on one hand, the other ready to cast a spell should the need arise. Hamir will protect the portal from the other side should anyone or anything other than them try to step through. It was best to leave the portal open. Wong said Hell's energies ran differently and that a human sorcerer could easily loose all power and energy from the easiest of spells. Depending on how this trip went, Wong might not be able to open another one, not for days. Strange didn't have that much time.</p><p>The Soul Stone didn't like it in this red-skied dimension, making its displeasure known in pulses of uneasy energy. The pulses at least traveled through the armor as well, giving it extra power. The Arc Reactor with its Starkenium core was, miraculously, still not loosing power but Toni wasn't keen on testing whether it will be the same after hours in this realm. Hell, despite it having flames all over the place, even on <em>water</em>, was <em>fucking freezing</em>. It was dry and it chilled to the bone. Toni wasn't even sure if the air here was breathable or <em>how</em> it <em>was</em>. It smelt of methane, sulphur and, to her discomfort, palladium. Great, just what she needed. A reminder of the worst days of her health in her fucked up life. In the distance, she could see what looked like the black version of the Leaning Pizza Tower with a huge sickly green flame burning at the top.</p><p>"I guess that's where we gotta go," she commented and picked up Shuri. Harley did the same with Peter. Wong, bless him, knew some spell that allowed him to create glowing stepping platforms so he can keep up with their flying as they headed for the tower. The flight was short and spent in silence, both because of the seriousness of the situation and as to not draw the attention of the other flying creatures all around them. No one tried to stop them from entering the tower, despite there being giant female ogres guarding its entrance. They climbed the stairs to the top, undisturbed saw for the occasional dinosaur-like servant demon that scuttled past them to fulfill his task. And when they entered the 'throne room' at the very top of the tower, their host greeted them with a huge smile.</p><p>"Ah, Stephen Strange's great Toni Stark. An honor!" The man that greeted them was disappointing in his predictability. He had the traditional appearance of a devil: red skin, red hair, monstrous eyes, small fangs. Though, the red suit was new but it fit the whole Faust theme, if she remembered correctly. Still, he didn't really resemble a monster. Toni wondered what his deal was. She knew he had the goal of procuring as many souls for his domain as he could, but he was too terrified of Stephen to try ever since Strange became Sorcerer Supreme. What caught her attention more than his appearance was his throne. It would appear <em>it</em> was the source of the giant green fire they saw on top of the tower. Mephisto was quite literally sitting on a raging inferno and he remained untouched by the flames. That was a power play, if she ever saw one. It said 'Look at me! Look at how powerful I am!' to anyone who saw him sitting there. Too bad for him Toni was raised in the iron mongering world. Or around the paparazzi. Those guys were all vultures. "Well may you tremble! For you gaze upon," he made a dramatic pause with a bow and the cloak around his shoulders <em>moved</em> and Toni felt dread creep in. She'd recognize that red color anywhere! "Mephisto!"</p><p>And as he rose from his bow, he came face to face with the furious Iron Maiden and a charged repulsor pointed to his face. He yelped and stumbled back but Toni caught him by his tie and yanked him forward. JARVIS scanned the cloak her wore around his shoulders until he detected an unfamiliar source of energy. Toni told him to activate a small laser and they blasted that point, a small explosion following and suddenly the Cloak of Levitation looked like its normal self again. Whatever had been making it look like any other cape seems to have been keeping it unable to escape Mephisto's shoulders as well, because it surged immediately to strangle him, holding him for Stark in what must be Strange's usual way for negotiation.</p><p>"Please, Mistress Stark! Have mercy!" The man pleaded, flailing around. He looked extremely hesitant to use any sort of magic on her and Toni had a good guess as to why. Stephen had always said he was invested in her. Mephisto knew her as <em>Strange's</em>Toni Stark. He knew what Stephen will do to him if he harms even the tips of her hair. "I can help you! We can make a deal!"</p><p>"Mephisto, I've come to bargain," Toni said, repulsor still aimed at his head. Her kids, bless their high-key vengeful and protective streak, were all aiming at the 'Devil' as well. Thank whatever their lucky stars are that Shuri was visiting from Wakanda for a month. Harley and Peter weren't the same after Thanos and after her impromptu trip through dimensions last year. They'd probably already be shooting by now. Wong, for now, let the none-sorcerers take care of things as it was obvious they had it all under control.</p><p>Mephisto, upon hearing what she said, calmed, looking at her curiously. "Fascinating. You sound just like him." He raised his hands in defense when the repulsor whirred as it warmed up. "Okay, okay! Bargain, yes, I can do that. Sheesh, I always knew Strange liked strong, competent women, but he sure did pick a special one, didn't he? What can I do for you?"</p><p>Toni didn't believe his ignorance of the Sorcerer Supreme's current condition for one fraction of a second. She glanced at the Cloak and it must have sensed that even though she hadn't moved her head and her helmet gave her one hell of a poker face, because it tightened its hold on its former captive. He made a strangled noise and tried to claw at the red fabric, but the Cloak was made of sturdier stuff than he can tear. It's been with Stephen when he faced Dormammu and survived. Mephisto, infinitely weaker than the former master pf the Dark Dimension, stood no chance against the badass piece of magical outerwear. "You gave the sorceress Clea of the Dark Dimension a means to drain Stephen Strange of his power. You're going to tell me how and why and how I'm going to undo it. And you're going to do it right now or else I'll destroy your entire realm."</p><p>"You can't do that," the demon said confidently, seemingly forgetting the restraining Cloak and its hold on his neck. "Hell has existed for millennia and no one managed to destroy it. Even the great Dormammu couldn't destroy our world. He could only add its bits and pieces to his own domain."</p><p>"Oh really?" Toni challenged, raising her left hand to show off the glowing Soul Stone. She retracted her helmet to reveal her arched eyebrow to further emphasize how little she believed his claim. "The Soul Stone won't decimate your realm when it calls back all the souls you've trapped here, destroys your hold on them? Because I think it will. Care to find out?"</p><p>"Fine," the red man spat the word out, glaring at her in hatred. "I accept your bargain. Just tell this piece of rubbish clothing to let me go."</p><p>"Not until you answer my questions," fired back the genius inventor, though she stopped the Cloak from bashing his skull in at the insult, much to its disappointment. "Once I'm satisfied, you can go, free as a bird, and you're not allowed to try and attack us on our way back. If you do, I'll <em>know</em> and I won't go back on my promise of using the Soul Stone. You won't like how creative I can be."</p><p>"Fine!" He looked resigned now. "I can see why he likes you so much. You're just like him. Like soulmates, if you believe in that crap." He raised his hands in surrender again when Harley made a step forwards in a threatening manner. "Right. Well, I can tell you that, <em>yes</em>, I did provide Clea with a way to drain Strange's power. A spell, to be precise, made as an additional part of their deal. It took me time to develop it, after all, which is why Clea could only administrate it in the last few decades."</p><p>"What kind of spell is it?" Wong asked, speaking for the first time since Christine Palmer was brought to Kamar-Taj. Mephisto shrugged.</p><p>"It uses Strange's own natural ability to absorb magic against him, utilizing the Eye of Agamotto as an amplifier and a vessel for the stolen power given that no other container in the multiverse can actually hold it. I taught Clea to make the seal that would reverse the effects and interfere with the connection Strange has to the Eye to get the wanted results, but the only means powerful enough to make the spell binding and strong enough to do its job is if it's made as a deal. I don't know what deal those two struck other than Strange giving her enough energy to have a physical manifestation on Earth of her own. I don't think Strange took into account just how addicted she'd get to the material world. She hungered for it as much as her mother and uncle did. So she made this countermeasure. Not only would she get the Dark Dimension, she'd also be the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, making her the prime candidate for Sorcerer Supreme. With that title, she'd have access to everything. The Vishanti are favorable of Stephen but they ultimately want a good protector, a strong sorcerer to call their own. They won't care what she'd use her powers for."</p><p>"Why did you help her? Doctor Strange promised not to take your realm from you," Shuri pointed out and the red man shrugged again.</p><p>"She promised to return to me the parts of my realm Dormammu took from me." And that seems to have been enough for him to risk Stephen's ire at the betrayal, though that would imply Stephen had ever trusted him.</p><p>"How do we undo it?" Toni asked the most important question, but Mephisto left her cold with her answer.</p><p>"You can't. Strange broke off the deal when Clea was still intent on keeping it. It is his price to pay for not 'reading the fine print' of their 'contract'. The seal will only break when there is no more energy in him to drain."</p><p>"Bullshit!" Harley exclaimed and Peter had to agree.</p><p>"Everything that is made can be unmade."</p><p>Mephisto smiled at Spider-Man. "I never said otherwise. I said it can't be <em>undone</em>."</p><p>Stark narrowed her eyes. "Explain."</p><p>Mephisto just smiled at her as well. "Clea put this spell in effect sometime in the winter of 1945. If you can travel back in time, you can save Strange from adding to their original bargain and save his life. Though I suggest you hurry." His smile was not nice at all as he said this. "He doesn't have much more time to live. It is miracle enough that's he's still alive."</p><p>Toni said nothing and blasted the smirk right off his face.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The EDITH in this story is not in any way connected with Spider-Man: Far From Home's EDITH other than sharing the name.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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<p></p><div><p>"So you're planning on traveling back in time to the last months of the World War II in a desperate attempt to stop him from sealing his own demise on the words of the Devil? That's crazy!" Dr Palmer exclaimed as soon as they started preparations for the mission ahead. This time, Toni didn't even try to tell the kids to stay behind. She'll need all the help she can get.</p><p>"Yes, well, crazy is what we do, honey," the other woman replied, barely glancing up from the last minute modifications she was making to her suit for stealth purposes and to keep JARVIS and FRIDAY with her even in the forties when there are no satellites for any of them to hack and use for tracking and the such. "I'm almost ready to go. How about you guys?"</p><p>"You're acting as though traveling through time is <em>possible</em>! Are you <em>mad</em>!?"</p><p>Toni whirled around to face the panicking doctor, a ferocious scowl on her face. Stephen was slowly dying and Toni had little patience for anything else than finding a way to stop this thing from actually killing him. "It <em>is</em> possible and you will find I am <em>very</em>mad. It happens when you meet immortals, gods, demons, sorcerers, aliens, giant green rage monsters, shapeshifters and gigantic wrinkled purple grapes bent on universal destruction and genocide with the help of some fancy jewelry that just so happens to hold the power to destroy, make or reshape the universe. If you can't keep fucking <em>calm</em>, tell me so I can go fire up one of my other AIs and give them a suit to take care of Strange while we're on this fucked up mission." Palmer stayed quiet, probably stunned by her outburst, which Toni preferred over her panicking and ranting from earlier, which is why she turned back to her proteges.</p><p>"I'm all ready," Shuri replied first, having taken the new Black Panther-like suit she'd built for herself in Toni's labs. Unlike the actual Black Panther suit, this one had some weaponry and the ability to fly. Toni had given her JOCASTA to help her operate the suit, as Toni had put in a few missals with her, as well as retractable and extendable claws that can also turn into deadly projectiles. The idea came from knowing both Logan, one of the X-Men, and Loki. The only big visible differences between Shuri's and T'Challa's suit was that Shuri's was all dark purple with red lines and an Arc Reactor for added power and protection, should she need it. Shuri was an incredible inventor all on her own, but her people's traditions regarding the mantle of Black Panther and his Vibranium suit limited her. In Toni's labs, she found the freedom she needed to add all those exciting little details she'd always wanted but never had the chance. She took on the Arc Reactor as a show of utmost respect.</p><p>"Same," said Harley as he checked one last time his weapons systems. His steel blue suit was one of the many heavy hitters Toni has developed over the years, modified with nanotech for Harley's specifications. He didn't have super strength or reflexes so he needed bigger weapons. Helped by Toni's AI EDITH, aptly named by Harley upon discovering her among the tech Toni had sent to him after dealing with the Mandarin after his mentor, he had the most firearms right after Toni in their group. He, like Peter's Spidey suit, was equipped with Instant Kill Mode he should activate only in emergencies.</p><p>"All set, Ms Stark," Peter finished the roll call, all but vibrating with nervous energy, anxious to get this all over with. Of all her 'children', he liked Stephen the most and had gotten close to him the easiest. He was also the one who saw most of him, so he must be quite worried. His Iron Spider suit was as ready as ever, prepared to take on anything that might be thrown at him. KAREN was already instructed to activate Instant Kill Mode as soon as he does something dangerous or stupid or something occurs and he doesn't want to do anything drastic about it. He was a good, sweet kid but they were going into HYDRA infested times and Toni had no plans of letting her kids get hurt.</p><p>"Okay," she began, turning back to the mission. "We're going back to 1945, early January and we'll stay until the deal is supposed to take place and we stop it. We'll not tamper with anything else that happens in the meantime. We'll not try to affect or change anything. We'll stay as inconspicuous as possible, hence nanosuits and the silly clothes I've forced you to wear. No messing around with the timeline. If anyone's asking, we're using the Time Stone," she pointed to her returned other Gauntlet that now housed a much happier Time Stone. Turns out, taking off the Eye of Agamotto slowed down the process. Only by a few hours, but that actually gave Stephen half a day longer to survive than if it had stayed. The only reason he had stayed alive long enough for them to figure it out in the first place was due to the Time Stone's interference in slowing down the process. Now, it was going slow but Strange was still losing power. Although, according to Mephisto, Stephen should go right back to his practically invincible state as soon as they get rid of the seal. Toni sure as hell hoped this worked because if it didn't, Stephen will be dead in hours. "To go there and to come back, which gives us the ability to come back here in a matter of hours instead of us feeling the time we stayed in the ninety forties. Try to keep a low profile and blend in. Remember, Stephen has a photographic memory. He is <em>not</em> to know of us ever being there, got it?" When all three nodded, she turned to Hamir, Wong, the returned and very worried Cloak of Levitation and the now calm Christine. "You four are on Stephen watching duty. Clea is bound to make a reappearance to finish off the job. Doctor, your only duty in this is keeping Strange alive. Wong and Hamir will hold her off and the Cloak will protect you. Trust him. He's awesome. We'll try to be back as fast as we can. Everyone knows what they're supposed to do?"</p><p>"Got it," they all replied in one voice with determined nods, even the still scared Palmer.</p><p>"Don't forget to not underestimate her. Not only is she Dormammu's niece and technically the rightful heir of the Dark Dimension, she's also now got a bit of his and Stephen's power, not to mention a bag full of tricks only Stephen knew of because he probably taught her. She's not weak and she won't be an easy opponent. If worse comes to worst, I've notified Loki to come help you out a bit. So don't go playing the hero. And, if you ever feel its needed, Vision, Carol, Rhodey and Hope are on standby. Call them if you must but try to keep this an internal problem. We don't need New SHIELD or the Accords sticking their noses in all of this." As much as she supported the Accords, the UN was still consisted of politicians. Besides, Kamar-Taj will wither under their thumb. And if they learn Strange is in this state, they'll take advantage of it. Ross had no doubt reported which Infinity Stone is the most powerful and where it could be found. And while Fury agreed to let Stephen keep it, he's dealt with this shit longer than any of them give him credit for. He's ready to compromise as long as the end result keeps Earth as safe as it can ever be.</p><p>He was never on board with a willing HYDRA agent joining the Avengers Initiative. He won't be on board with a murderous demon joining either, but his vote counted little in the schemes of the UN Council if they decided to add her in. Rogers in particular would greet her with open arms into the Avengers.</p><p>Toni wasn't going to let that happen.</p><p>They had one shot at this. Toni had never before used any of the Stones, despite having three of them in easy reach practically every day. She didn't know how to return them to the exact moment they leave, like her alternate self who invented time travel through the Quantum Realm could, and she knew she must not, under any circumstances, return them <em>earlier</em> than that moment. So she's aiming a few hours into the future, just to leave herself with enough margin for error in case things go sideways. Those few hours, though, could be anywhere from two to twenty and if it's closer to the latter, chances were Stephen won't survive long enough for a second attempt so they had to get it this first time. Sure, they could use the same trick the Tony that died but didn't stay dead used, utilizing the Quantum Realm, but only the Time Stone can bend and change timelines safely. Any other method was dangerous.</p><p>"We'll try to be back in a few hours. These communicators," she pointed at the complex pieces of technology she and Shuri had managed to put together in the last hour, rushing through tests and hoping it will be enough. "Will allow us to exchange messages but only short worded ones, so the maximum of words is five per message. Send only basic information and the time you sent it at, so we know how much we have left. You can send three messages one after the other but the communicators need two minutes to cool down after that. If you send anything after that, the communicators will fry themselves and go a bit boom. Nothing dangerous but I don't think you'll be able to fix them. <em>I</em> won't be able to fix them, so handle them with care."</p><p>"We'll alert you as soon as something goes amiss," Master Hamir reassured, wishing them good luck.</p><p>"We'll keep him alive, Toni," Wong added, for the first time since she met him addressing her by her first name. He, who, too, is used to Stephen's immortality, must be shaken by this turn of events. He had probably never seen him this vulnerable or hurt before. He was the seventh of his family to serve him faithfully and to be his friend. Toni rather doubted this had happened to one of them before. "You just find a way to stop this."</p><p>The matter of how Clea got the Cloak of Levitation for Mephisto remains a mystery, one that, unfortunately, has to wait to be solved. Mephisto doesn't know how she managed it, but their long ago deal was made in blood and not even someone of Clea's caliber can escape it. She must have given it over as soon as she got her dirty paws on it. And it had to have happened before Stephen was put in his current state or else she would have never gotten the chance.</p><p>Never the less, Toni nodded to the sorcerer and took a deep breath.</p><p><em>"The Infinity Stones react to their wielder's thoughts," Vice Sorcerer Supreme Tony had explained when he had taken them aside for a private conversation before sharing his knowledge with them. "But it is your will that ensured what you envision will happen. We have an affinity for all of them, so we can use them all however and whenever we like. Just remember it is always easier to ask respectfully instead of demand. They, too, have a will of their own. They are not to be trifled with. We may be their preferred Contenders, but we're far from immune to their power should they decide to punish us. Just remember that and using them should be as easy as using Extremis - something </em>you<em> and I will have to chat separately about, my fellow male Toni/Tony Stark."</em></p><p>So Toni listened to his advice and reached for the Time Stone's energy in a respectful inquiring manner, asking for it assistance and compliance. The emerald Stone gladly responded, a green glowing mist starting the rise and circle around Toni while green mandala-like bracelets encircled the wrist of the hand wearing the Time Stone. They started rotating around her wrist as the mist spread and Toni quickly called her passengers to join her inside before she goes to the past all alone. Not that she couldn't manage the mission by herself, but having backup is never a bad idea. Between Peter's spidey senses and super strength, Harley's clever and crazy ideas and brazen attitude and Shuri's knowledge of where her country's agents might have been at this point in time as well as her intellect, they were the perfect team to assist Toni in this madness. They were all adaptive and savvy enough to blend in with the crowd and stay inconspicuous and were smart enough to work with any piece of technology, however outdated or alien it may be, that they encounter. They can't allow themselves to stand out. If they do, they could <em>seriously</em> mess up the future and Toni - relatively - <em>liked</em> the future. Despite her hardships, what with Afghanistan, the palladium poisoning and Arc Reactor issues, she wouldn't change a thing.</p><p>So they took a hold of each other's hands and held on tight as the mist surrounded them whole and started glowing. The green mandalas that had appeared around Toni's wrists were now glowing on both the inside and the outside of the misty orb as powerful magic started crackling like lightning all over its outer surface, felt even on the inside. The Time Stone was glowing like a supernova and everyone had to close their eyes lest they end up blind by the time the light show is over. Stark felt the exact moment when the Time Stone finally started taking them back through time as he stomach lurched and her ears popped as immense pressure assaulted them. She didn't even have the presence of mind to ask the Soul Stone to help guide them to a place near Stephen in their travel through time, so immense and overwhelming was the experience, but the Soul Stone didn't need to be told. Both it and the Time Stone were eager to search out Strange in the past, the green one having grown quite fond of its Keeper. They did all the work fir her and all Toni had to do was keep thinking of January 1945.</p><p>Before long, the sphere around them started dissipating until all that was left was the circle of glowing mandalas. As soon as there was no more mist under their feet, the four armored heroes fell to the ground and landed on their asses in what looked like an alley somewhere in France, maybe, judging by the type of buildings around them.</p><p><em>'JARVIS, environment recognition, please,'</em> she asked of her co-pilot as she got to her feet, retracting her armor back into the Arc Reactor on her chest, looking around for clues and any signs of danger. Though Peter would probably be the first one alerted to it given his spidey senses, but you can never be <em>too</em> careful, not in this era.</p><p>-It seems to indeed be France, Sir, but it seems to have been reconstructed and remodeled after the war. There are not enough similarities to modern buildings for me to tell you the exact location in the city, but I do believe this to be Paris.-</p><p>Paris. 1945. January. Those were the facts she knew so far and she sent a message to let Wong and the others know they landed safely. The facts she couldn't send were that she knew this was maybe a month before Bucky Barnes falls off a train to become HYDRA's puppet and assassin or that Rogers and the rest of the Howling Commandos must be somewhere in this city as they stand there, trying to gather their wits.</p><p>"Everyone okay?" She asks while waiting for either Wong or Hamir to send her what they knew of Strange's activities in Paris at this point in time. Everyone seemed to be fine, but it was always best to check. As it turned out, when Harley made to give a sarcastic comment, he suddenly doubled over and started hurling up what little lunch they had paused to have. Shuri, who had been standing right next to him, gave a shriek and dove out of the way before he could ruin her shoes. Had she been any less stressed and <em>tired</em> - and wasn't <em>that</em> a surprise; she hadn't been tired for an entire <em>year</em>, ever since ... Thanos was dealt with ... Ever since she got together with Strange - Toni would have laughed her ass off and then spent a day chuckling whenever the two teens pouted at her. As it was, none of them could find it funny and it only heightened their awareness of just how serious and dangerous the situation was.</p><p>"Yeah, peachy," Harley groused out when he finished. Thankfully, JOCASTA had had the forethought to open up the helmet before he could puke inside of it. Nanotech or not, that would have been almost impossible to properly clean out. Toni would know. Palladium poisoning was <em>not good</em> for your body and it protested in the most gross of ways. "So, where are we headed?"</p><p>Toni glanced back at the communicator and couldn't hold in the urge to roll her eyes because <em>seriously</em>!? "It would seem Strange is hunting down a magical shapeshifter and will be staying in a hotel for the better part of January. The hotel we're looking for apparently has some screwed up name that neither of our magical friends can remember or find mention of in their family records of Strange's outings and missions."</p><p>"That screwed up name wouldn't happen to be Mish Mash and Dash, would it?" Shuri asked and Toni looked at her with a confused frown.</p><p>"I don't know?" The woman walked over to her only fellow female, looking up and down the street to check if anyone had seen their 'grand entrance'. She'd never read about magically appearing people in green flashes being reported in the forties so she hoped they weren't disrupting the time flow or something. "Why do you ask?"</p><p>"Because I'm pretty sure I just saw a brown cat turn into a tall blond man we all like to hate and call Captain America walk into the building across the street." Toni and both of her pseudo sons snapped their heads in that direction and swore when they, indeed, saw a Steven Grant Rogers lookalike walk into what appeared to be a hotel. It's sign, dingy and falling apart as it was, clearly stated the most ridiculous name for <em>any</em> establishment Toni had ever heard of.</p><p>And, worse of all, a young Howard Stark had just walked into it, not a minute after the shapeshifter.</p><p>"Shit."</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>"Any idea of how we're getting in? Because I don't think our dollars will work here." Peter asked after a moment or two of silence. There was a shapeshifter in a shady hotel, in 1945, chased by the Sorcerer Supreme, only in that same hotel was none other than Howard Anthony Stark, Antonia 'Toni' Edith Stark's one and only father. And if Howard was here in January 1945, then so were the Howling Commandos, Rogers' old team that had made a name for themselves for destroying HYDRA bases all over Europe. In a month's time, Barnes will fall off a train and be declared MIA/KIA. In a little over two months, Steve Rogers will crash a plane in the Arctic, to be found seventy years later by explorers and unfrozen by SHIELD operatives.</p><p>But none of that mattered now. What <em>did</em> was that the hotel was small and, no doubt, mostly bought out by Howard to house General Philips' pets, one of which was also one of the first ever super spies, Toni's own godmother, Agent Margaret 'Peggy' Carter. There were <em>a lot</em> of people Toni will have to avoid or fool. Peggy lived long enough to see Toni turn into the woman she now was, even before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Peggy would put the dots together a lot faster than Howard ever will.</p><p>That aside, Peter was right. Even if they <em>could</em> book a room - which they probably couldn't, given how people of color were <em>still</em> sometimes treated in this era - they didn't have any actual money on them. None of them had actually thought they might need to forge a few bills and <em>certainly</em> none of them were the type of people to obsessively collect old bills. They could sneak in, but someone is bound to see them sooner or later, especially with the accessories Toni sported, from her two Gauntlets and the two Stones they housed to the nanobot housing unit that is the Arc Reactor in her chest. She <em>could</em> turn it off and cover it, but she has had it with her for a decade, she wasn't about to turn it off because she feared a few forties' men. Besides, if she <em>did</em>turn it off, Strange will be able to find her in no time. Stephen had more than once commented on her aura, had said it was what had drawn him to her on the night of the party they met at. Said it was the most beautiful and intriguing one he'd come across in all his years. Toni wasn't about to risk the same happening <em>now</em>.</p><p>Just then, a distressed man stormed out of the hotel the four time travelers were scouting, agitatedly tugging at his thinning hair, looking more distressed than Toni had seen Pepper look after she learned Toni had been dying of heavy metal poisoning, back in 2010. It was fascinating to see, to say the least, but then it registered what the man was saying, half in English, half in French.</p><p>"What will I do? I'll loose all my business! Howard Stark is staying at my hotel! Asking for <em>entertainment</em>? For soldiers, no less! I can't afford a singer or dancers! I've just managed to reopen after renovation! <em>Marde</em>! Those fucking Nazi's! Destroying my establishment. What will I <em>do</em>!? I'll be <em>ruined</em>!"</p><p>"Guys, I think I just found us a way in," the genius grinned at her proteges and winked at them. "Follow my lead." Toni briskly walked over to the panicking hotel manager, tapping him on the shoulder with a polite "<em>Pardon mua, mosur</em>," when he didn't notice her at first. She smiled her best press-worthy smile and saw the exact moment he fell into the Toni Stark public persona trap, dazzled by her good looks and natural charm. "I couldn't help but overhear you are in need of a performer?"</p><p>"I- Yes! I desperately need some entertainment for tonight! I have two major guests in my humble hotel and no performance for tonight to provide them with!"</p><p>Toni only smiled wider, though she made sure her voice was honey sweet and innocent as untouched white snow. "Ah, I believe we can help each other, <em>mosur</em>! <em>Je M'apel</em> Antonia Carbonell." The alias had worked for Hank Pym in the future, she hoped it will work now. "I came here from America before the war started in hopes of joining the fine French theater, but, alas, fate was not on my side. Since the war started, I've been singing with my merry crew," she pointed at the teens behind her, earning them a curious glance from the no longer distressed but rather <em>hopeful</em> manager. Toni even felt a bit bad about using him like this, but she <em>would</em> be doing him a favor. Call it a <em>bargain</em>. "In any bar, hotel, inn or tavern that would employ me. I promise we are very good, <em>mosur</em>. We won't let you down if you give us a chance."</p><p>"How much do you want for the performance?" The manager asked, already thinking financials, which was good. It meant the job was all but secured. Time to amp up the charm.</p><p>"A couple of days with a safe roof over our heads and three decent meals in our bellies will be enough. But if it turns into a few nights gig," Toni continued, having FRIDAY pull up old monetary values as she made a very short, dramatic pause, as any performer would. "Two American dollars will suffice."</p><p>"<em>Mon Diue</em>! One, <em>mademoiselle</em>, and you have a deal."</p><p>"One and a half and not a penny less. I believe that is fair, no?" The man thought about it, figured his guests won't stay long so the little band won't be needed, before nodding.</p><p>"<em>Oui</em>. One and a half American dollars." He struck out his hand and Toni gave him one more blinding smile.</p><p>"Then we have an accord. Let us just pick up our equipment and we'll be with you in an hour."</p><p>"I don't care as long as you are on stage at eight. Be late and you won't see a penny." With that final warning, the French man smiled at her and waltzed back into his little hotel, happy as can be, his woes dealt with. He was acting as though there wasn't still a war going on. Stark shook her head at him and turned back to her teenagers, who were staring at her with something like awe.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"You not only got us in but secured us a way to get some money, Toni! In less than a minute!" Harley exclaimed, as though that was some big achievement and their admiration was supposed to be obvious and expected. Toni will never understand kids these days. "I honestly thought this would be harder."</p><p>"Don't jinx us, you idiot," Shuri shoved the blond boy reproachfully before turning curious eyes onto Toni. "I didn't know you can sing."</p><p>"And neither does the rest of the world, save my mother, my butler, my AIs, Rhodey and Happy. And probably Fury, but that's because he sticks his nose where it's none of his business."</p><p>"So not even Doctor Strange will be able to connect <em>you</em> to Antonia Carbonell if he watches the performance tonight," Peter said with realization, a grin spreading over his face, only for it to disappear a moment later. I don't know how to play any instruments. I tried the guitar once and my classmate, Ned, said it sounded like I was torturing it."</p><p>"I took piano lessons for about a year," Harley shared, sounding sheepish. "Nothing stuck. My sister is more of the music type."</p><p>"I can play all kinds of drums, but other than being a DJ, I'm no musician," the Wakandan Princess finished off and Toni couldn't help but snort. She herself could play the piano only because her mother had once bothered to teach her the basics and she had then practiced by herself in a bid to earn a bit of her parents' attention. It never worked, but Obie- <em>Stane</em> loved playing so he'd play sometimes with her. It was ultimately Jarvis who nourished her skills, sitting with her for hours at a time as she learned piece by piece. She had to learn by ear alone, since neither of her parents believed she should be wasting her time on music. She mastered the piano at age ten, but soon after she was sent to boarding schools. The piano was good whenever she got restless and needed something to do with her hands that <em>wasn't</em> building. She couldn't build many things in her high school dormitory, it was far too small and would be easy to fill up with all sorts of things after only two or three days. But there was no easily accessible piano in her school so Toni had been practically hyperactive the next time anyone from her household saw her. Jarvis, bless his gentle, caring British heart, had saved up several months of his salary just to spend the money on a beautiful violin for her eleventh birthday that both of her parents had forgotten all about. It was second hand but it was a Stradivarius and it was a challenge to learn all on her own. After a couple of months, her dorm room would be filled with music at the oddest times of the day. The school proposed to her parents to sign her up for a musical program, but Howard had scoffed and Maria had been too indifferent towards her daughter's apparent talent for several instruments.</p><p>Howard had destroyed the violin in a drunken rage two days before Toni left for MIT at fourteen. Jarvis couldn't console her for all her guilt at his gift being broken. Instead, when DUM-E won her an award and made all the front pages and top stories in all the news broadcasts, Jarvis bought her a <em>brand new</em> Stradivarius. Toni had cried for the first time since Rhodey met her. That's when he became family. She only loved him more when he never made a fuss about her playing at odd times, instead learning to study best with the gentle wails of the violin as background noise.</p><p>Toni never played the violin again after her beloved butler died with her parents in that 'car crash'. She couldn't even touch it.</p><p>But that wasn't the point. "You're acting as though I expect you to play anything at all. We just need to keep an eye out for Strange and keep him in our sights. Mephisto said the addition to their deal was made in winter of 1945. It's either now or at the end of the year. We just stick to him and prevent it from happening. Besides, even when we <em>do</em> get up on stage, you just <em>pretend</em> to be playing something. We'll shape out instruments with our nanites and quickly program them to play certain songs. Easy as Pi." They still looked at her dubiously, so Toni just rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to pretend to know how to play an instrument with music playing in the background. Just close your eyes or look down at your fingers, which you have to move, by the way, and don't look at the crowd if you think you'll freak out."</p><p>"Okay, so we're a band," Harley conceded first, crossing his arms. "What do we call ourselves? Every band has a name."</p><p>Good point. Again, teenagers had their use, even if they shouldn't have a place in situations like this. "Any bright ideas? Nothing that stands out, mind you. I remind you all again that Stephen has a photographic memory and as a hobby, he memorizes music, for whatever reason."</p><p>"Right. How about <em>Iron</em>?" Peter suggested, shrugging. "Simple, easy to forget, not very notable."</p><p>"Small time bands usually <em>try</em> to be more notable, usually with cheesy names they later change and laugh about in interviews," the other boy pointed out, to which Peter only frowned thoughtfully, apparently agreeing.</p><p>"Okay, how about <em>Heart of Iron</em>? Cheesy, <em>still</em> easy for <em>us</em> to remember and Doctor Strange, if he <em>does</em> watch us, probably won't give us a second glance with a name like that." And for once, Toni <em>wanted</em> that to be true. Somehow, she doubted it. A glance is never the only thing Strange gave her. Still, Harley agreed to Heart of Iron and Shuri wasn't protesting, so she guessed they had a band.</p><p>"Okay, so, next thing on the agenda-"</p><p>"Clothes!" When all three of her 'fellow band members' gave her strange looks, the Princess of Wakanda rolled her eyes. "I swear, sometimes, you are all just as dense as T'Challa. Did you honestly think we can preform in <em>these</em>?" She pointed at their outfits with a bit of disgust and Toni had to agree. As an expert show-woman, she knows the outfit is already half of the performance. One more point for the teens, she guessed. "We cannot appear like this. Not if we're hoping to stay."</p><p>"We're not supposed to stand out.</p><p>"We'd stand out <em>more</em> if we didn't have <em>one</em> good outfit for preforming."</p><p>"Shuri has a point," Toni interjected before Harley and Shuri could start another of their little bickering matches. She swears the blond boy picked up his flirting tactics from watching Stephen and herself. Stark was almost sure it would never work on anyone else, but, then again, Shuri <em>was</em> a genius and geniuses <em>liked</em> bickering. Well, unless you're Bruce and all timid like after one of your own failed experiments turned you into a giant rage monster. "Luckily, nanobots can take care of that, too." Battle armor, indeed. Eat your hearts out, Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler from Sherlock the TV series. Toni <em>still</em> can't get over the fact how much Benedict Cumberbatch looks like Stephen, much to the latter's annoyance. She still remembered what the other Toni said about there being entire universes where Sherlock Holmes <em>wasn't</em> a fictional detective but a real person and that there was one version of him that looked like Strange. It would seem universes had the strangest overlapping points if one is depicted as a TV series and others are as books, movies or maybe cartoons. You seriously never know. "Shuri and I will be picking out your outfits. No complaints," she raised a hand and gave them a glare when they looked like they were going to spout just that, stopping them in their tracks. Both boys pouted while Shuri looked excited at the prospect. "Now, instruments. Shuri's on drums, Peter's on the bass and Harley's on the piano. Guitars aren't quite popular still outside of Spain, so we're sticking with bass." When all three teens actually looked confused, Toni arched an eyebrow at them and commanded JARVIS to form a proper bass out of her nanobots, playing a few strings to demonstrate it's deep tones.</p><p>"That's one big ass violin," was all Harley said, though it cane with a grin that meant he was doing it on purpose just to rail her up. Peter failed to fight off a snicker.</p><p>Toni only huffed. "Just for that, you'll be wearing make-up, too." Their horrified expressions were revenge enough already. She can't wait to torture them by actually doing it. That'll teach them to mess with her.</p><p>"What about songs, though?" The only enhanced teen asked after he got over his mortification and resigned himself to his fate. "What are we going to 'play'?" The question was posed with the appropriate air quotes and, once again, all three teenagers turned to Toni, waiting for her response. They all knew their suggestions would be far from appropriate. Truth was, Toni didn't have any appropriate song suggestions, either. It's not like she liked forties music. Sure, she'd comprised a music list for Rogers to go through in order to get acquainted with all the things he'd missed, but he'd never listened to it and Toni had actually had very little to do with song choices. It was JARVIS who liked old classics, not her. She was a rock 'n' roll person.</p><p>"I'll think of something," she assured them before clapping her hands. "Now, onto the instruments!" For some reason, she felt a shiver travel down her spine. Looking around, she found no source but she could have sworn the feeling was familiar. She couldn't quite out her finger on it, but she knew she'd experienced something like this before. Not quite this, but something <em>very</em> similar. But not even her AIs could detect anything amiss, so she let it go for now.</p><p>Unbeknownst to her, a pair of green eyes peered from behind dark red curtains, curiosity shinning in them at the clash of auras that had drawn their attention. A hum escaped their deep in thought owner before the curtains were drawn all the way and the window was left alone.</p><p>Let the crazy adventure begin.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Devil, Devil by MILCK</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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<p></p><div><p>"Are you going to tell me what happened between you and Doctor Strange?" Shuri asked that night as she helped Toni get her hair in an attractively messy bun at the top of her head, a few locks of hair sticking out of place and curling around her face. Toni had doned a breathtaking, body-hugging red dress that looked as if it was made out of silk and not bulletproof material. It had a slit on the left side, showing off one slim leg, but it had sleeves up to Toni's wrists, where it fanned out a bit to hug the bottoms of her palms. The chest area was of an almost see-through red mesh material that exposed the Arc Reactor but made it look like a complicated, tasteful, unique piece of jewelry instead of the marvel of the modern world. She had to make mismatched earrings in order for the different Stones in the two Gauntlets to look intentional, like a part of her unique style or something. Thankfully, both Stones had the exact same positioning on their respective Gauntlet, so it won't look <em>too</em> weird. She was fortunate they could compliment her dress, really. The earrings she wore were a bit over the top, matching her Gauntlets diagonally so the ear opposite to the Soul Stone had an orange jewel and the same with the green one complimenting the Time Stone. She wore no necklace, as it would make her look tacky, especially with the Arc Reactor, once again a golden color, dominating her chest area.</p><p>She was doing her make up while Shuri was tackling her hair into submission when the girl asked her that question. Shuri didn't notice her tense - rare few would - so Toni just arched a fine eyebrow at her through the hastily cleaned mirror in the small 'dressing room' they were given to prepare in for the show. "What makes you think anything in particular happened?"</p><p>"Well, for one, it can't be coincidence that we found you almost hung over <em>despite</em> having Extremis the same morning as when Doctor Strange got into trouble. And two, for as long as I have known the two of you, calling each other by last name had always been in jest." So she <em>had</em> noticed. Damn it. Toni had hoped none one but Wong would. Wong knows better than to get involved in their weird love life. "I may be young, Toni, but I am far from naive, unlike my two friends we took on this trip."</p><p>Which was also true, making Toni sigh. "Let's just say that the way Clea managed to get close to Strange deserves quite a bit of disapproval. I don't want to talk about it, not now and preferably not ever, but I know the latter is unachievable at this point. Still, we're on a mission, I'm about to go out and preform before Rogers, Barnes and my father, my three sources of bitterness and trauma, all the while looking out for shapeshifters, Strange and Clea. I need a clear head. I can have another mental and emotional breakdown later."</p><p>Shuri looked displeased with this, but the return of Harley and Peter, who had been 'setting up' for their performance, cut whatever her response might be short. "It's packed out there. Who would have thought we'd have such a turn up on our first live performance together?" Harley joked, trying to lighten the mood and get rid of his own nerves regarding the situation. Toni may have assured them all that they won't be playing and even showed them how to properly pretend to be doing it even to a sharp supersoldier's eyes, but both boys still doubted how well this would work, which the genius found insulting. Or it could be they hated their 'monkey suits', tugging at their ties and cuff links every few seconds.</p><p>Shuri batted their hands away, having finished with Toni's hair. She herself looked breathtaking in a simple yet stylish lilac dress with a few sparkling stones to make it showy yet elegant. "Of course there is going to be a big turn up! Who knows when it was the last time these people had proper entertainment. Add in that a beautiful woman will be standing front and center and they'll be breaking the doors down."</p><p>Peter actually looked horrified by the idea while the other young man grimaced in disgust. Toni shook her head at them, exasperated by their antics. "Before either of you two go into overprotective child mode, please do remember that I can bench-press <em>Rogers</em>, let alone any of these schmucks should they get too annoying. And that's <em>without</em> even mentioning the suit operated by two high-key vengeful and overprotective AIs. Besides," she took out the pendant Stephen had given her back at the fire of the destroyed Stark Expo and that she had never left far away from her since, especially after their first ever real fight. Even now, she kept it in her sleeve so it can be close. For practical reasons, of course. Toni Stark has been called many things but sentimental is not one of them. "If I for some reason can't take care of them on my own and my suit isn't responding, I still have this. Strange made it so it would protect me even when he can't due to whatever reasons. I think it's safe to say it can deal with whatever shit might happen in this town."</p><p>A knock on the door prevented further conversation, the French managed walking in as soon as they told him everyone was decent. "Everything and everyone seems to be ready. Good," he said after a quick once over of an inspection. "Professionalism. I like that. Well, anyway, you're on in five minutes. I wish you good luck and don't screw this up for me. Remember, <em>two</em> important clients. Try to please them and not piss them off. If they are happy, I'll even pay you a whole dollar more. <em>Allons-y</em>."</p><p>The quartet from the future exchanged looks and just shrugged, going out to the stage hidden behind a heavy red curtain that had definitely seen better days. They got in place and Toni started reviewing the songs she had wanted to sing as the manager announced them. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the up and rising Heart of Iron!" And then the curtains were up and her eyes unerringly turned in one direction, drawn by the heavy weight of a familiar intense stare and brown met green. There, front and center, sat strange in one of his finest black long suits, looking completely out of place in this dingy hotel, even with several others dressed to the nines sitting all around him. Even Howard Stark couldn't take the spotlight from his fine appearance, perfectly groomed, suit perfectly tailored and the red coat hanging off of his chair could only be the Cloak of Levitation. He was just sitting there, sipping vine and sizing her up. Toni almost didn't recognize the look in his eyes. It was as though the gentleman she was used to was fighting any other horny WWII soldier on the inside and that was not a look she had <em>ever</em> received from Strange.</p><p><em>'Did Clea receive it?'</em> She couldn't help but wonder and a frown tugged at her brow. Thankfully, Harley had done the introductions and now it was up to Toni to play the songs and sing along. Only now all those songs were forgotten as she stared Strange down. All those feelings from the last day or so bubbled up to the surface and Toni sent JARVIS the command before she could change her mind.</p><p>The piano keys were stroked first and Toni almost immediately began to sing, eyes never leaving Strange's. She wanted to see his reaction and was pleased by the momentary startled expression that crossed his face at the first lyrics.</p><p>
        <em>Devil, devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Clever devil, devil</em>
      </p><p>The rest of the room, though, was either shocked speechless or scandalized, both of which Toni didn't give two flying fucks about. Even Peter's, Harley's and Shuri's startled expressions didn't register. She wasn't even aware Rogers existed, let alone of his disapproving stare. Howard, had she looked in his direction, she would see he looked intrigued, shooting glances between the singer and the apparent recipient of the song. None of it registered because none of it <em>mattered</em>. For Toni Stark, only Doctor Stephen Strange existed as she sang. It made the song sound enchanting, <em>haunting</em>. Addictive. <em>Seductive</em>. None dared interrupt, too enraptured by her voice and the chilling melody.</p><p>
        <em>How quickly do they sell their souls</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>For the feast and the promise of gold</em>
      </p><p><em>But devil,</em> she took a step forward with a pronounced sway of her hips, slamming her heel down at the same time the drums kicked in. <em>That won't be me</em>. And Strange just looked <em>delighted</em> at this show of dramatic defiance, the corners of his mouth threatening to tug up into that smug smirk Toni hated for loving. She narrowed her eyes, accepting the challenge he gave, asking to be impressed. Oh, she'll impress him alright.</p><p><em>Devil, devil</em>, she hummed, eyes racking the man's body up and down, landing on his fingers pointedly before looking up, cocking her head to the side.</p><p>
        <em>Bones of metal, metal</em>
      </p><p>Strange, though, didn't appreciate that. Not that he appeared angry, no. If anything, he was confused and all the more curious by her apparent knowledge that eleven flaming iron rods were speared through the bones of his fingers during the torture he was put under for 'being in league with the Devil'. He never got to removing them. Even modern day medicine would probably ruin his hands even more if he were to try, never mind that he would heal either way. They all had their scars and their reminders to do better.</p><p>
        <em>You torture saints with a single glance</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Make them think they ever stood a chance</em>
      </p><p>Toni quickly made her way to the center front of the stage, footsteps heavy to match the beats of the drums. She walked carefully over the long, thick cable of the old fashioned microphone, eyes never leaving Strange's even as she brought both hands up to hold onto the mike. Not a fly could be heard besides the music and her singing. None dared interrupt for fear of breaking the spell she put on them all. Stephen, most of all, looked thrilled to be enchanted so. She knew only rare few could hold his attention. Toni Stark had never had that problem before and she refused to start now.</p><p>
        <em>Do not try me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Cannot buy me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>You won't make a fool of me oh no</em>
      </p><p>Toni had given him her fragile heart and he had stomped all over it by getting into whatever it was with Clea when he was with Toni. A year. A whole year went down the drain as she watched a scene that broke her heart like nothing else could. And that was only the start of their problems. Now Toni was stuck dealing with heartbreak due to a cheating boyfriend while desperately trying to save said boyfriend's life because he was the fucking Sorcerer Supreme and their dimension still needed him. Toni hated herself for still loving him, for still not being able to hate him for what he had done to her. It wasn't fair and it sucked, just like her life. But one thing was for certain. Toni won't let him use her like he would any other woman. She had made that clear years ago. She had made it all clear, first after New York and then with that whole fight about Gina and their making-up after Thanos. She was Toni Stark. She was no one's bit on the side.</p><p>
        <em>What makes you so special special</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>To think I would ever settle</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>For that devious dance between you and me</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Devil devil</em>
      </p><p>Strange frowned at that, finally looking a bit offended. From the corner of her eye, FRIDAY registered for her the French manager tearing at his hair all over again, eyes wide, face ashen. He was horrified by how she was treating one of his two big shot customers. Besides Howard Stark, Strange was the only one present who could buy him out of business or ruin him. Strange, though, couldn't give two fucks any more than Stark herself could. Hazels and emeralds never once broke their connection, even as Toni slowly started descending the stage, walking towards Strange's table. JARVIS and FRIDAY advised against it. Her teenagers were hissing in her ear not to get any closer, reminding her of the plan. But the engineer might as well be deaf. It truly felt like it was only her and Stephen in the room.</p><p>No, not Stephen. Her Stephen would never look at her with lust in the way this man was. Not without a heavy dose of love. This was Strange. The man she was trying to save was also Strange. Stephen seems to have been lost somewhere along the way and Toni will cry after <em>him</em>, not the man that let his libido be his undoing.</p><p>That didn't matter now. Not when she was singing for Strange.</p><p>
        <em>Rebel rebel</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Call me rebel rebel</em>
      </p><p>According to Stephen, she had always stood out. Stephen wore a glamour that made everyone instantly charmed with him for greater easy at getting around, no matter the era, and Toni had been the only exception, ever, who had never fallen under its influence. Toni had also been the first person ever to leave Kamar-Taj without his permission, making one of his most loyal to take her back to New York no less. Toni always stood up to Stephen. He always said he appreciated it, thrilled in it, this new challenge of becoming charming to someone who didn't find him as such at first glance, under the influence of his spell. Well, Toni was going to show him just how challenging she could be. She rebelled against her father in her youth. She rebelled against the system when she came back, beaten and bruised with the Arc Reactor reducing her chest cavity by over thirty percent. She rebelled against the world when the government tried to take the suit from her. She rebelled against death <em>so many times</em>. She'll never stop rebelling.</p><p>She sure as hell won't stop because of a cheating oath breaker.</p><p>
        <em>I walk the plank, not a tear in my eye</em>
      </p><p>No more crying. Strange obviously didn't deserve it. Not if he jumped into bed with a fucking <em>demon</em>, and Dormammu's <em>niece</em> no less.</p><p>
        <em>I won't go down your blushing bride</em>
      </p><p>To think she had once thought he was serious when he asked her to marry him. He had sounded serious enough when he had suggested after learning an alternate version of themselves had done it. Toni had brushed him off and externally seemed to have forgotten it, but the words "You know, <em>they</em> are married. Why don't we do it?" echo in her head all day long for <em>days</em>, ever since. Even now, a year later, she remembers perfectly when and how he asked. She had thought him genuine. Sure, they always joked about their immortality practically being a higher form of marriage, but she had honestly thought he might want to actually exchange vows or something. Maybe Toni was just as naive as Peter in the end.</p><p>Not anymore.</p><p>
        <em>Under the water I'll be sharpening my knife</em>
      </p><p>Toni came to stand right in front of Strange's table, the tall man for once looking up at her. Toni may or may not have put the force of Extremis behind the slamming of her fist against the tabletop as she started singing the chorus again.</p><p>
        <em>Do not try me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Cannot buy me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>You won't make a fool of me oh no</em>
      </p><p>But Strange hadn't so much as batted an eyelid at that, watching as Toni leaned over to practically glower at him, a snarl threatening to escape her lips.</p><p>
        <em>What makes you so special special</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>To think I would ever settle</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>For that devious dance between you and me</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Devil, devil</em>
      </p><p>Strange leaned in towards her by just the tiniest bit and Toni, for reasons unknown, felt like she was being <em>devoured</em>. And yet something about the way he was taking her in ... It reminded her of Stephen that first night they met. How he had been gentle with her without treating her like she was made of glass. How he had been kind without slipping into condescending or overbearing. How he had handled her with care when even her own friends bluntly told her she was suffering from PTSD and that it was messing her head up. It reminded her of how he had looked when he said he'd never <em>not</em> answer her call, no matter how angry they might be with each other.</p><p>It made his betrayal all that more painful.</p><p>
        <em>You take the shape of everything I'm drawn to</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>You take the shape of everything I'm drawn to</em>
      </p><p>He had been her friend, her confidant, her pillar of support and her rock of strength whenever she needed him. He had always ultimately come through for her. He had set aside his duties for her, had put her first. And she had fallen for it.</p><p>So she leaned over the table to look him dead in the eyes she feared she'll never see so full of life again, into the eyes that had calmed her down more times than she cared to count. She looked him in the eyes, leaning over him almost threateningly as she sang.</p><p>
        <em>But your eyes</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Are dead and red</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Red as rust</em>
      </p><p>The beat went back to normal and she straightened back up, marched up to the stage, pounded it in beat with the music with her fist before climbing up, her back turned to Strange for the first time since she laid eyes on him.</p><p>
        <em>Do not try me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Cannot bind me devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>You won't make a fool of me oh no</em>
      </p><p>She whirled back around a boldly pointed a finger at the man the other guys were for some reason looking enviously at. It took Toni only a moment to realize it was because they were horny, the area right over her breasts was practically see through and they thought Strange had gotten a good peek. With a start that nearly made her falter, she realized Stephen's eyes had never left her's. Like always, he had been given a chance, a privilege any man would die for, even if only for bragging rights or sheer perversion, and he had not taken it. Like a true gentleman.</p><p>
        <em>What makes you so special special</em>
      </p><p>She knew.</p><p>
        <em>To think I would ever settle</em>
      </p><p>She would. In a heart beat.</p><p>
        <em>For that devious dance between me and the devil devil</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Devil, devil</em>
      </p></div></div></div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>As soon as the music died down, the spell was broken and yet everyone remained utterly stunned. Toni was sure her 'band mates' hadn't even been 'playing' anymore but no one had seen, for all the attention had been on her and the handsome Sorcerer Supreme. Then, unprompted, Stephen began clapping, an impressed smile spreading over his lips, looking at her with eyes far too gentle to be regarding a complete stranger. The rest of the crowd, though, followed his example and soon an applause was thundering through the dingy hotel that was Mish Mash and Dash, loud enough to be heard out even on the streets. The manager was crying tears of joy, but Toni didn't see it.</p><p>All she saw was green eyes and a stare she couldn't handle. So she ran out. Out into the streets, barely having the mind to refrain from activating the suit and simply flying away. She wasn't in her present, after all. She was in 1945, sixty three years before Iron Maiden is born. She's not Toni Stark here, she's Antonia Carbonell. She has to keep a low profile.</p><p>Running through the streets of Paris in a beautiful red gown probably wasn't the way to go about that last one, though.</p><p>Still, she somehow managed to find herself sitting atop some random bridge, legs dangling over the water, staring down at the green Infinity Stone on her second Gauntlet. Maybe she hadn't thought this whole plan through. Maybe there had been another way. Maybe the Time Stone could have reversed it all instead of going on this mad mission with no clue as to how to proceed now that they've found Strange and Strange had seen them. They might be inconspicuous to the rest of the world, but they won't be to him. Not with the way he was looking at her.</p><p>Not with the way he had almost chased after her.</p><p>"You're a hard woman to find, Antonia Carbonell," a voice behind her said and Toni tensed. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Gotta say, that was quite a performance. Never heard one like it before. Never heard a song like it, either. You've got real talent, Ms Carbonell. May I call you Antonia?"</p><p>"It's actually <em>Dr</em> Carbonell and no, no you may not, Mr Stark," Iron Woman replied, leveling the young man who will become her father a deadpan look. What Howard Stark was doing chasing after a random woman he had never met before was the real question here, though. Didn't he have Captain America to fawn over? "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't want to be found?"</p><p>"It did, but I figured I could change your mind." He shot her a winning smile, but Toni didn't budge. The smile slipped as he realized she wasn't falling for his charms. What surprised her, though, was the menacing tone and expression he took a second later, grabbing her by the elbow and dragging her up in her surprise until they were nose to nose. "I suggest you stay away from Doctor Stephen Strange, honey. That man is bad news and bad news follow him all around. I would hate for a pretty thing like you to end up hurt."</p><p>"Are you <em>threatening</em> me, Mr Stark?" Toni asked in the same tone of voice she'd said the last two words a certain terrorist group in Afghanistan ever heard, or at least a good number of its members. It was ten times more dangerous than the tone Howard had produced. Subtly, an Iron Maiden repulsor gauntlet formed over her left hand behind her back, ready to defend herself. Fuck Howard for being her father. 1% power from a repulsor won't kill him but it'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget.</p><p>"I'm <em>warning</em> you, <em>Ms</em> Carbonell," the businessman replied, thankfully letting go of her arm and taking a step back. Which was just as bad as she now didn't have a good enough reason/excuse to blast him. "Doctor Strange is under military observation. Any interaction with him could implicate you in his crimes."</p><p>"And what might those <em>crimes</em> be?" Toni challenged, knowing damn well Stephen wasn't and had never been a criminal. He went around making deals and bargains, granting favors, but he had always avoided the unsavory types. Toni had read through some of the Wong family records of their time with Strange. Stephen had a strong moral compass.</p><p><em>'And yet he had cheated on you,'</em> a poisonous voice in her mind whispered and Toni angrily shoved it away. Now was not the time for her personal drama. Her father was acting suspicious.</p><p>"That's classified information, Ms Carbonell," he paused and Toni could practically <em>see</em> where this was going. "Unless you're offering your assistance to your country. Mr D'Pol tells me you're apparently an American immigrant. Your country could use your assistance."</p><p>The billionaire shoved a finger harshly at the elder Stark's chest. "No. Way."</p><p>"All you'd have to do is spend some time with him and tell us his main base of operation, transport, possibly the bank he uses-"</p><p>"Fuck off!" Howard's jaw actually clicked shut at that before hitting the ground at such crass language. Toni took the moment to savor the image before turning on her heel and briskly walking away. She told JARVIS to call back the nanites still forming her outfit as she heard Howard, probably having to manually reboot his brain and kick-start it for good measure, start running after her. She took a left turn, then a right, tried to loose him in the remains of destroyed buildings, resorting to activating Extremis when it got too dark to see but the man persisted. As expected of a man ready to search for Rogers for fifty years in the ice and snow of the Arctic. It annoyed her that he was keeping up with her, probably doing what he did best: following a skirt. So Toni changed tactics, telling JARVIS to form a military uniform as she ducked into the nearest bar, trying to blend in with the soldiers.</p><p>Only when Howard followed in, he wasn't buying it that 'Antonia Carbonell' just disappeared. Had Toni not known better and not had the Soul Stone to confirm it, she would have sworn it was the <em>shapeshifter</em> that had followed her and not the actual Howard Stark. As it was, it really was him and he was scanning the faces in the bar. Toni knew her build wasn't right fir a soldier, so she changed outfits once again into a dirty winter dress with a torn jacket, completely opposite of the impression left by her alias, but she saw Howard seeming to spot her and about to approach her when a hand grabbed her and gently but swiftly pulled her into a dark corner of the bar, a tall, lean man caging her in, blocking her from sight.</p><p>"If you don't answer me honestly about whether you're a shapeshifter too, right now, I'll leave you at the mercy of Stark and his group of ignorant baboons." Toni nearly groaned. Of <em>course</em> who else would save her but none other than Stephen Strange, her white knight extraordinaire. "I'm waiting."</p><p>"Don't hold your breath. I don't owe you anything."</p><p>"No, but it seems like I might owe you and I'd like to know what and why," the 'devil' replied, leaning in closer when Howard came in their direction. Toni was too used to his proximity after all these years to feel uncomfortable and it was not at all an appropriate response to have around a person you just met. Strange, of course, seems to have noticed this, given the slight frown on his face. He let it go, though, still pursuing the answer to his first question. "Look, I don't want any trouble, you seem to know me but I don't know you and considering I'm chasing and being chased by a shapeshifter I need to know whether your friend or foe or just some random bystander because I seriously don't know what to think right now. You can change your outfit completely at will and I thought I saw your eyes flash blue. Tell me whether you're a shapeshifter and whether you're working with Stark and we'll go from there, meaning I either just let you go and apologize or I make sure you don't remember this encounter."</p><p>"Try messing with my mind. See what happens. I dare you." At his frown, she sighed and gave in. He was currently quite literally her shield against her father. She'd rather not piss him off and be left to deal with Howard. That was never a good idea, not in all the nineteen years that she'd known him. "Look, I'm not a shapeshifter. I'm enhanced and have a very unique power I don't have the time to explain to you. And just so you know, the reason Stark is hounding me is because they think I'd be a good spy regarding you. Don't know why, don't care. I'm not interested. I came here to do something and as soon as I'm done, I'll be gone and out of your hair, so I'm asking you nicely not to screw me over right now by telling Stark I'm hiding behind you."</p><p>"Then perhaps we can assist each other," Strange suggested and Toni once again knew where this was going. "Let's strike a bargain. I help you with your thing and you help me find my shapeshifter. I have a feeling neither task is as easy as it sounds."</p><p>"No shit, Sherlock."</p><p>Strange just cocked his head, regarding her similarly to a curious bird. "May I know your name? I've quite honestly never met someone like you. It's refreshing."</p><p>"Antonia Carbonell," she replied after thinking it over and sighing once more. She can already feel a headache forming. "Fine. You help me and I help you. Quid pro quo. No screwing each other over. We go our separate ways as soon as our things are done."</p><p>"It's a deal then, Antonia. And you can call me Stephen."</p><p>"It's Carbonell and it's going to stay Strange. This is purely business."</p><p>For some reason, Strange seemed highly amused by this.</p><p>Her 'band-mates' weren't and neither were the two sorcerers overlooking things back in the future. In fact, she was pretty sure Wong was cursing her name six ways to Sunday but at least he was refraining from abusing the through-time communicators. Harley, Peter and Shuri, though, had no need for fancy communicators to yell at her. Peter nearly had a heart attack when he saw Strange standing behind his mentor upon opening the door to her. Shuri was looking in concern between the two adults, the only one knowing something was wrong back home. Harley was just angry at her for running off like that and for mot reporting in for over two hours, a big no-no she had lectured them about. Toni found it all exasperating, reminding them she was a grown, kickass woman who can take care of herself.</p><p>Stephen just found it all amusing. He just sat there and watched them bicker, Peter eventually falling silent due to Toni's word still being the law for the nice kid, Shuri giving up when she realized Toni was okay and that left only Harley in the running. Him she could deal with, because he was arguing this much only because he was worried. To be expected. Toni had never ran from anything for as long as the world knew her and Harley especially found it extremely disconcerting when she left so abruptly. Sure, he didn't have the hero-worship that Peter did nor the brand of respect Shuri had for her. In Harley's eyes, Toni had always been his family, his mother figure that left him, his sister and his father when he was four and it lead to a neglectful and often time drunk into unconsciousness father. It was Harley who had to take care of himself and his younger sister, put in a position where he had to grow up too fast. He had latched onto Toni with all of his might and always looked delighted to see or hear from her. He wasn't like Peter, timid to accept his closeness to her. He had even slipped and called her 'mom' a few times, to which Toni nearly had a heart attack the first time around but had calmed down when she realized Harley hadn't even noticed. It only made that moment all that more precious.</p><p>Peter had a somewhat mother figure in May, which is probably why he hesitated in accepting how close he was to Toni, but Harley had no one. It was why he liked Stephen the least when he was introduced to the two boys as Toni's boyfriend. Harley had very easily taken on the roll of Toni's son. It wasn't in name or blood but it didn't have to be. Rhodey, Pepper and Happy were Toni's family and none of them were related.</p><p>Eventually, everything calmed down and even Harley let the matter go, by when Strange had made himself comfortable, having conjured up tea for everyone. He didn't seem to question why all four of them were used to accepting floating cups of hot beverages from thin air, probably presuming they all knew something they weren't sharing with him. He just rolled with their apparent comfort with his proximity and their awkward attempts not to show it.</p><p>"So, what's this mission of yours? How can I help?"</p><p>The quartet from the future exchanged looks, silently trying to determine how much they were going to tell him. In the end, Toni settled for honesty. "A very dear friend of ours is about to do something that will undoubtedly cause him immense harm in the future. We have to find him, put a stop to it and leave before he realizes we're here. Hence our cover as musicians and performers. As soon as we're sure he won't do that which he shouldn't do, we'll be out of here before you can blink."</p><p>Strange arched an eyebrow, which Toni returned. She hadn't said one thing which wasn't true. She just omitted the fact that they're from the future and that the friend about to make a grave mistake was Stephen himself. "Do you know where he is?"</p><p>" ... Yes," Toni said after a moment of hesitation, brain running in overdrive to see where Strange might be going with this line of questioning.</p><p>"And you know what he's going to do?"</p><p>"Yes," she stressed the word, again exchanging a glance with her proteges. Strange noticed and frowned, but thankfully didn't comment on it, instead focusing on his train of thought before he could get distracted.</p><p>"Then why not just go to him right now and stop him?"</p><p>"You wouldn't understand," Harley huffed, finishing off his tea ans crossing his arms oncd his cup was empty.</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"It's complicated," replied Shuri this time, putting her cup and saucer down elegantly with all the regalia of a princess.</p><p>"Okay, you either give me a straight answer-"</p><p>"He's about to make a deal with a demon that will end up sucking him dry of any energy and leave him an empty husk until his body dies a painful death!" Peter blurted out, never having been one of those people good at hiding secrets.</p><p>"Damn it, kid," Toni groaned, especially when Stephen's eyes seemed to light up in what he no doubt thought was understanding.</p><p>"Ah! Then I can help you," he declared, clapping his hands once and disappearing the used dishes in a spark of magic. "As Sorcerer Supreme," he winked at Toni and the woman just rolled her eyes at him. "It is my duty to deal with threats to this dimension and all its inhabitants. Earth is my domain and it will be a pleasure to assist you."</p><p>"Then how come these shapeshifters are giving you so much trouble?" Toni couldn't help but ask, confused. Stephen, though, didn't seem offended by her blunt question. As always. He was always looking for a challenge and Toni cursed herself for always providing him with one, no matter what her response might be. She remembered being rather prickly on their first meeting and that had garnered her Strange's further attention. Which, for an undercover mission as risky as this, was not a good thing.</p><p>"That is because they're not magical, but extraterrestrial. They come from a race known as the Skrulls. Well, the one <em>I'm</em> chasing. The one chasing me seems to be using some form of technology to utilize the Skrull's transforming ability in order to hide from me. You see, the Skrulls can copy anything with a DNA structure. Right down to their most recent memories. They're at war with a species called the Kree and tried to seek asylum here on Earth, many years ago, but left in order not to endanger our planet. Refugees still sometimes land on Earth, which is what happened to the one I'm looking for, or so I would guess."</p><p>"If you're magical, can't you sense their energy or aura or something?" Peter, bless him, asked, sounding confused and like a normal human trying to guess at a sorcerer's bag of tricks. He, of course, knew Stephen could do that. He was thankfully pretending for the sake of their mission.</p><p>Stephen surprised them by shaking his head no. "I can do that, but it's useless with the Skrull. If they can copy a being down to their DNA, as long as they change shape often enough, their own unique energy signature won't show through, instead mimicking the energy signature of the being they took the shape of."</p><p>"Surely you have some magical thingy that can find them for you?" Toni asked, thinking of how Strange had looked through who knows how many different realities to find the energy signature of sorcerer Tony Stark in the vastness of the multiverse just with the help of the Eye of Agamotto.</p><p>"I have many, but most demand I have a piece of their DNA - like a single strand of hair, for instance - or know their energy signature or aura. And since I can't get those, I can't use those methods to find them."</p><p>"Okay, what about the technology using one?" Shuri asked upon realizing this was a dead end. "What do you know about that one? Do you have any idea if they, too, are aliens?"</p><p>Strange shook his head again. "No, that one is most definitely human and I have a bad suspicion they work with all those involved with Project Rebirth. Seriously, I don't know what Erskine was thinking, taking on a kid who only wanted to fight and making him into an ultimate soldier. People like him thrive in war and never learn to let go of it. Even when this whole mess eventually clears up, he won't find peace. Soldiers rarely do but that little punk was made into a supersoldier. That means everything a soldier needs is amplified in him, <em>including</em> the need to fight. I tried to warn him but mad scientists rarely ever listen."</p><p>"Wait, so you were in contact with people from Strategic Scientific Reserve?" How come Stephen had never told her about that? Sure, he had told her he had shot Rogers down a few times, but he had never said anything about approaching Erskine about Rogers' mental state. Though this wasn't the first time Toni heard him say things like this about Rogers. Strange never did like him. Had they interacted before beyond Strange shooting him down for medical reasons when he tried applying for the army?</p><p>"Only Erskine and, unfortunately, Howard Stark. Stark I met at a gala but Erskine approached me to take Rogers' application forms from before that last rejection. We got into quite a row when I saw him approve Rogers' application despite several diseases he carried that made him unfit to <em>say</em> the word soldier, let alone join the army as one."</p><p>So Strange was one of the doctors working in the application tents at the Stark Expo when her father showed off his - not functioning - flying car. Interesting.</p><p>"Stark seems rather resentful of you," Toni noted, making it sound like an accusation. "I rather doubt a single meeting at a gala would garner that much contempt."</p><p>"Oh, I agree," Strange replied casually to her pointed statement. Toni didn't like the sudden feeling of dread that came from the two Stones she hosted on her hands. "But he has done some research on me and seems to have learned I am considerably older than I look. He assumed I had developed a way to heal my injury and live longer without changing much in appearance and he requested I help someone dear to him. I refused because what I did to gain this ability to heal like this and remain unaging is not a process that can be repeated. But Stark was insistent and even pulled a gun at me when no one was looking." The feeling of dread only spread. "He even shot me! But, as you can see, I am perfectly fine, which only made him more insistent." Toni <em>seriously</em> didn't like where this story was going. Something about this conversation made the Stones urge her to stop it. To stop listening in order to spare herself the pain of where it was heading. "I believe he hates me because I've been avoiding him for a few years now. Because he couldn't find me, he joined Project Rebirth, hoping to find something to replace my assistance."</p><p>"That sounds rather personal," Shuri observed pointedly, looking at the strangely stressed Toni. When the woman made no move to stop her from further probing, the Princess continued. "Who could he go to such lengths for?"</p><p>The Stones gave one last, helpless pulse of warning before falling silent as Stephen answered.</p><p>"Oh, some woman named Maria Collins, I think. I guess he's in love with her or something. The last time I saw Stark and her, she had had only three to five months left to live. Don't know what happened to her."</p><p>And just like that, the ground under Toni crumbled.</p></div></div></div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>"Antonia? Are you okay?" Stephen, like always, seems to be the first to have noticed her distress and acted on it immediately, standing up and moving as if to come to her side. To be fair to the teens, though, they were just as shocked as she was. Maria Collins Carbonell Stark, her mother, had apparently been diagnosed to die in a few months back in 1942. Yet she was alive long enough for Toni to be born, decades later, and was alive long enough for the Winter Soldier to murder her along with Howard Stark and Edwin Jarvis over a decade later. The teens could do the math. They were all geniuses, after all. How could Toni's mother be diagnosed with only a few months left to live and yet still bring Toni Stark into this world?</p><p>Strange's moving towards her snapped Toni out of her daze enough to register FRIDAY and JARVIS trying to get her attention that several soldiers in what could be called special ops uniforms were approaching the hotel and not by the front doors. As soon as the manager had given them rooms, Toni and Peter had set up sentry drones all over the place. They might be here covertly, but that didn't mean danger wasn't lurking at every corner, be it the possibility of discovery or a HYDRA ambush. Of all the AIs currently with them, JARVIS, FRIDAY and KAREN had the most experience and were the best equipped to deal with intruders besides being the only ones with the sentry drones to actually successfully fulfill that duty. That, at least, broke her out of the whirling thoughts in her mind regarding how her mother was alive and the fact Strange hadn't helped her, making her focus on the immediate danger. Her existential crises can wait.</p><p>"We have to go," she snapped, grabbing Strange by the hand and dragging him towards the window, cursing when she saw they couldn't just sneak out. And judging by the design of the uniforms, those were American soldiers, no doubt working directly for Colonel Philips and SSR.</p><p>-The building is surrounded, Boss. And two streets down in every direction there is an ambush in wait. Teams of five soldiers. I'm detecting a non-human individual present on the North, South-East and West squadrons. North and West non-baseline humans identified as Creed, Victor and Logan, James, AKA Wolverine, affiliation X-Men, signed the Accords under the mutant protection clauses reserved for Charles' Xavier's School for Gifted Children. South-East identified as non-human, 87.6% chance of extraterrestrial interference. No safe routes of escape. We can't leave undetected.-</p><p>"Shit!" Toni ran a hand through her hair, grimacing as she realized where this was leading. "Right. Portals. Fun."</p><p>"What?" Strange asked, incredulous, not understanding what was going on. Shuri, Harley and Peter, however, were already checking all traces of their presence were erased, though it's not as if they had many things with them in the first place. Everything they needed was handled by nanotech, but it was best to erase anything that might have their DNA on it. Scanning DNA to identify people might have been thought to have come later, but never underestimate two forces of nature in this world: a Stark or HYDRA. Better not to risk it. KAREN, if not JARVIS or FRIDAY, must have told the teens what was going on.</p><p>"You. Portal. Magic. <em>Now</em>," she stressed, making a halfhearted circular motion with her hand, eyes going blue as she and JARVIS started assessing the special ops. Howard's first ever bulletproof vests, Howard's newest riffle designs, Howard's head protection gear, Howard's smaller, newer, fancier walkie-talkies, Howard's specially designed hand grenades with an adjustable timer, all things Toni knew weren't widespread or available for all, not even decades later, when they weren't worth the metal that made them. Still, there was no doubt. This was SSR's agents. What she hadn't considered was Wolverine and his long lost brother being a part of the party. She liked Logan. They got on along fine and he was usually smart enough to remind Charles to keep his mind to himself. She didn't want to fight him, even if he still wasn't made of Adamantium.</p><p>The sorcerer looked a bit startled that she knew he could do that despite them having made it obvious that they all knew quite a bit about him than they were letting on. When he opened his mouth to question her and she realized he wasn't going to do it anytime soon, she snapped another "<em>Now</em>!" That, at least, he followed, reacting to the urgency in her voice and opened a portal as swiftly and as easily as ever, no sling ring needed, unlike with other sorcerers. He actually arched an eyebrow at that one but didn't protest when Toni grabbed his wrist and carefully pulled him through, the three teens following through after them. He was no doubt about to ask about it but the rough knocking on the poor ringy dingy door interrupted him, followed by a forceful "You're surrounded! Come out peacefully or we will shoot!". Stephen's eyebrow only went higher but he didn't need to be told to close the portal just as a soldier broke down the door with a well placed boot kick.</p><p>"Well, I can honestly say that never happened to me," he commented as he calmly walked over to the window of the abandoned building right across the Mish Mash and Dash, watching with detached curiosity as the soldiers tried to wrap their heads around the disappearing act when the manager had told them neither the musicians nor Doctor Strange had left the building, at least to his knowledge. "Sure, I've been hounded by armed forces before but never like this."</p><p>"What does Stark want with you?" Shuri asked, not even glancing in Toni's direction anymore to ask these questions. "I get that he's an influential man but I rather doubt the military adheres to his every whim just because he dangles shiny toys in front of them, especially not in the middle of a war. War is not a place for personal grudges of a single man."</p><p>"I don't know. I didn't even know he was ready to go this far until today," he said, eyes glancing only briefly in their direction, contemplating something. "Not until I met you. Perhaps it is time you told me what you are hiding, Antonia."</p><p>"That's personal and we've already established this is purely business so cut it with the 'Antonia' shit already." She ignored his huff, coming to stand beside him, looking at the situation through both her own eyes and the various sentries watching as the special unit questioned/interrogated the poor, confused manager. "How did they know we were still here? Did Stark send them?" She mused, more to herself than her companions but that didn't mean they hadn't heard her. She didn't like that they were still within the perimeter the soldiers had set up. They had only left the hotel and were now on the building right across the street, still too close to the core operation for Toni's liking.</p><p>"Better question is how <em>you </em>knew <em>they </em>were here and how you knew to get us out of there just <em>before </em>they barged in," Strange countered, finally looking down at her, eyes serious and intense, questioning, assessing. He was trying to figure her out, to understand her. Things weren't making sense but he was trying to get them. Either way, if there were any hopes of him eventually forgetting them, they were shot to shit because they were all only more and more intriguing as the minutes passed.</p><p>Still, Toni wasn't going to fess up anything until it became absolutely necessary. She had plenty of excuses. "Enhanced individual with unique powers," she said by way of explanation, which was actually quite true. Extremis allowed her to have a connection with JARVIS and FRIDAY and they had the means to send out surveillance drones and sentries, which meant she had direct access to the feeds. J and FRI only monitored it for her so she can focus on fooling the man that had become her boyfriend into not later on connecting the dots. It was one hell of a difficult job given that he, too, was a genius of sorts and had photographic memory. Also, he had a bullshit radar the size of a satellite so it was extra hard, but Toni can bullshit like the best of them for as long as she needs to. She wasn't going to put the mission of <em>saving Strange's life</em> in jeopardy. She needed to be careful.</p><p>Besides, time travel was her trump card. She can always say they are from some far away future or something. As long as it's not the truth, they won't fuck anything up ... She hoped.</p><p>"We need to get further away from here," Toni said after a moment of silence, eyes finally looking at Strange. He didn't so much as bat an eyelash when he saw her glowing Arc Reactor blue eyes, just waited patiently for further elaboration. "They set up the perimeter for ambush two streets away from the hotel in every direction but I don't know if there is any backup further than that. Also, what I assume to be your chaser shapeshifter is in the troops, which makes our continued stay here even more of a safety hazard. If they really have some sort of advanced technology, they might be able to track us."</p><p>"If they really have some sort of advanced technology to track us, maybe someone put it on us, Ms S-" Harley, bless him, reacted fast enough to put a hand right over Peter's mouth, muffling her last name so it sounded liked mumbling behind his palm, obscuring it from Strange. Still, Toni had no doubt that he had took note of the different form of address Peter had started and cursed herself for not having insisted Peter start calling her by name or nickname as soon as they got here. Some genius she was, not thinking ahead enough to consider the possibility of having to interact with the people of this time.</p><p>"JARVIS, you heard him. Start scanning." Stephen did jump this time when her 'chest accessory' lit up and a blue beam spread over the five of them. The results of the scan only left Toni but relieved and confused, as there were no tracking devices or anything that they hadn't put on themselves. "I've got nothing. We're not being tracked."</p><p>"Then that means this was a blind guess," Shuri observed, crossing her arms. "They presumed we'd either be staying at the hotel or at least somewhere nearby."</p><p>"Or that the manager might know where we are staying," Harley added, coming up to the window with a warning glare at Peter as he took his hand back. Spider-Man at least looked sheepish, horrified and extremely apologetic for what he had almost revealed. Toni had no doubt he will struggle with calling her anything other than 'Ms Stark' but at least he'll be on alert now not to fall back on old habits.</p><p>"Mr D'Pol," she said absentmindedly, wondering what will happen to the poor man when he proves to be no longer useful. Both SHIELD and HYDRA cut loose ends. SSR is SHIELD's predecessor. Toni rather doubted they had a different <em>modus operandi</em>. "We need to get out of here but stay close enough to SSR and their attack dogs to keep tabs on them so they can't surprise us again."</p><p>"Oh! KAREN has a spy drone the size of a spider!" Peter exclaimed, remembering just as KAREN showed off the nanite-made spider, about the size of a regular house spider, only red, blue and gold in design. "She can get in anywhere like this."</p><p>"EDITH should be able to make a distraction <em>and </em>the delivery," Shuri reminded, rolling her eyes when Harley huffed at his AI assistant's - babysitter's - competence. Stephen, from what she could see from the corner of her eye, was confused as fuck, which made her repress a giggle. "Though I think we should divide the tasks between her and JOCASTA. That way, everyone can concentrate on their task."</p><p>"Excuse me for being out of the loop here," Stephen cut in, sounding a bit exasperated. "But I have no idea what or who you are talking about. Some context might be good. And, for that matter, I don't even know who you are. I don't know any of your names besides Antonia's."</p><p>Toni glared at him, but she could see he had a point, so she pointed at Peter first, before he could accidentally reveal something that Strange isn't supposed to know and remember later on. "Peter Parkerson, Shuri N'Dakawa," she continued, pointing at the teen girl, who repressed a snort at the word play Toni had pulled. "Harley Keeners." The boy in question looked ready to quaff at the simplicity of their fake identities. If Strange ever remembers this in the future and doesn't make the connection, then he's an idiot. But Toni knew that the best lies are ones wrapped in truth. The simpler the lie, the easier it is to uphold. Especially with someone like Peter on their team, who isn't exactly the best at keeping such complicated things secret. "You know who I am," she said with a roll of her eyes when Stephen looked expectantly at her. The sorcerer snorted, not the least bit convinced.</p><p>"I know Antonia Carbonell isn't your real name, but I'll allow it," he said magnanimously and Toni felt her temper spike. Strange beat her to the next word, though. "You still haven't explained the other names and things you've been so casually dropping into this conversation."</p><p>Strange frowned in annoyance as the four of them once again exchanged heavy, pointed looks but Toni decided there was no pain in telling Stephen about her AIs. So she summoned them in their virtual forms from her wristwatch, JARVIS' orange sphere dominating the room, closely followed by FRIDAY's reddish purple, KAREN's green, JOCASTA's Vibranium purple and EDITH's blue, slightly smaller ones. She grinned as he jumped in surprise, mandala shields snapping into place but she explained before he could do anything more flashy to reveal their location.</p><p>"Are you some form of sorcerer as well?"</p><p>The genius inventor only rolled her eyes. "I'm just extra intelligent. Artificial Intelligence aren't <em>that </em>difficult to make. Anyway," she waved him off, focusing back on the matter at hand. "I agree with Shuri. Though I think JOCASTA should be making the distraction, as EDITH has better stealth settings."</p><p>"Or I could just phase whatever tracking devices you have through space and just deposit them where you want," Stephen offered, ignoring the stares the others gave him at that. "What?"</p><p>"Next time, man, why don't you just start with that offer?" Harley actually sounded close to whining and Toni had to agree. They just wasted half an hour on this discussion when they could have been off finding a better place to hide. Besides, time was kind of of the essence here. They might have the Time Stone but that didn't mean Toni actually knew all that well how to use it and they'll have to wait the whole year if Strange was approached by Clea in December. Toni only hopes it was in the first three months of the year and not the dead last. They have only one shot at this and the time frame was already narrow enough.</p><p>"I probably will, only I should remind you that I still have no idea what you guys know or don't know and can or can't do!" The sorcerer snapped, a bit frustrated. Toni realized this was probably only the second time in his very long life when Stephen Strange had no answers, the first being when he started on his journey to become the greatest Sorcerer Supreme the universe has seen. Toni knew she sure as hell wouldn't like being left out of the loop or feeling stupid. And the four of them weren't exactly subtle about hiding or not telling him things. The pointed looks spoke volumes all on their own. It was enough to make Toni feel a little guilty and a lot disgusted with herself, since it reminded her of how Rogers had kept her parents' and butler's murder from her and made her feel like a hypocrite, just like him. Strange deserved better, at least in those regards. He had never lied to her or hid things from her.</p><p><em>'But he didn't exactly tell you about the affair on the side he was having, had he,'</em> those darkest parts of her mind whispered and she flinched. <em>'In the end, what he did is much worse.'</em></p><p>Strange saw her flinch and his expression softened some, for some reason Toni couldn't fathom. At least her- <em>the future</em> Strange had ten years to come to care about her, but this man was a total stranger. Yet he seemed concerned about her. <em>'Maybe it's the doctor side of him rearing its head again,'</em> she mused, convincing herself that was the explanation. Besides, she wasn't going to get her hopes up or project her feelings onto the man who didn't know her for longer than an hour or two. She wasn't going to project her feelings on him just because her (ex)boyfriend cheated on her.</p><p>"Look, can we just get on with this? We need to plant the spy drone and get out of here before they maybe come to check out the surrounding buildings."</p><p>Stephen regarded her for a moment before nodding, opening a shimmering rift in reality that looked like hot air over the fire. "Here's your transport."</p><p>And so the crazy adventure continues.</p><p>00000</p><p>Toni sits in Strange's study in another, far better hotel room he provided them all with, holographic screens surrounding her, projected from her nanites housing unit as she, JARVIS, FRIDAY and EDITH kept vigilance. Strange had gone through a portal not an hour after they settled in and the kids had fallen asleep some time ago. Spidey might be enhanced but he wasn't the kind of enhanced Toni was. It would seem even his boundless energy actually had its limits.</p><p>Which left Toni alone with her AIs, to watch over them all and spy on SSR. KAREN had ended up lending EDITH one of her miniature spider drones for the mission and Strange had phased her right into Howard's breast pocket. They had pretty clear visual and sound. EDITH stuck with him until he returned with the Howling Commandos to their secret headquarters, which was when she activated her ultimate stealth mode, becoming invisible and moving around freely. EDITH had even detached an even smaller drone, now controlled by FRIDAY, so the two could more easily keep track of everything while snooping around for information or clues. JOCASTA was out, helping JARVIS keep an eye on their new surroundings and KAREN was in charge of monitoring the teenagers, lest they decide to go out and try to fix things on their own or something. JARVIS, naturally, stayed with her, like always.</p><p>They have been at this for hours now and still no interesting information was dropped. They were mostly planning how they will go on their next couple HYDRA bases raids, talking logistics and strategies. As she listened, Toni wondered where this sound and logical Rogers had disappeared off to, because his future self sure as hell wasn't this <em>not </em>stupid. Though she guessed he had always been a rather decent battlefield commander. He only sucked at everything outside of it. Strange was right that he was a soldier first. He needs chaos and war to feel like he belongs.</p><p>-Boss, detecting incoming non baseline human approaching.- FRIDAY's alert snapped her attention away from the military men discussing things and following FRIDAY's gaze, which turned out to be pointed at Howard. Toni frowned and instructed her baby girl to follow her father, EDITH getting to keep an eye on the others as Howard left the room, followed by Agent Carter. FRIDAY followed them in her miniature form, easily staying undetected as they walked down the halls of what looked like an abandoned hospital. Good choice. They'd have some leftover medical supplies to treat their wounded, if needed, and it was practically surrounded by other establishments from which they could get anything else they might need.</p><p>Suddenly, they entered a room and Toni frowned when she saw an ordinary soldier standing in front of her father and Peggy. But then she saw his form begin changing and she realized this must be the human shapeshifter that was hunting Strange.</p><p>The end result had the ground falling out form beneath her for the second or third time that day, not being able to believe what she was seeing because <em>how could that be true?!</em> But it was. This was her AI showing her what she was seeing. JARVIS and FRIDAY were equipped to deal with unusual shit like this. They can't be so easily fooled. But this ...</p><p>Howard's words only confirmed this insanity and she felt displaced in time, space and reality all together because that was-</p><p>"Maria. Good to have you back."</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>"What do you mean, your mom is a half-alien shapeshifting agent of SSR!?" Harley exclaimed, shocked beyond explanation upon what Toni told them the next morning, utilizing the absence of Strange to discuss this while they still had the chance. The man could be back any minute now, so Toni told them a quick and to the point report of what she had observed last night and she didn't at all like what she had found.</p><p>As it turned out, it wasn't a deadly disease that was haunting her mother years ago. Hell, it wasn't even a wound sustained at work or poison or experimentation or even mutation, as Toni had wanted to theorize. Howard hadn't approached Strange for any of those reasons at all. No, Howard had done his research about Strange because he was always acting <em>so strange</em>, granting favors and striking deals and bargains left and right, disappearing into the thin air as he pleased. He had appeared on Howard's radar and Toni was too much like her father, so she knew he had no doubt spent years investigating before he approached Strange about it.</p><p>Howard's motives, though, were far from what they had at first appeared.</p><p>Howard was searching for an infinite power source. Even with Vibranium, he couldn't find a solution from any material or method existing on Earth. Even the exceedingly advanced Wakanda had to replace their Vibranium cores every now and then. Even Vibranium has metal fatigue, it's just a matter of centuries. And Howard had no access to Vibranium, not enough to be able to sell his product and make a fortune. Vibranium wasn't his answer. Wasn't his solution.</p><p>But the Eye of Agamotto was.</p><p>Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange was.</p><p>An artifact capable of storing infinite power and a man capable of absorbing it, using it, commanding it, accessing it even from millions of different dimensions while never losing himself, never using it all up. Howard had, through means unknown, managed to learn this, had found out about the Sorcerer Supreme and his infinite power and the thousands of realms and worlds he commanded. And he wanted what Strange had. He wanted that power, that wealth, that influence, his reputation and position as the most powerful being in the universe. Hell, the Dark Dimension, Kamar-Taj, the New York Sanctum Sanctorum and the worlds hiding just behind its dimensional walls, all of it. He wanted it all.</p><p>Extraterrestrials had technology and powers unlike any seen before on Earth. Similar to their mutations yet completely different in nature. And yet it was a mere human, destined for greatness and born with the unique magical ability to absorb pure magic and use it as his own that held the spot of the most powerful being in the multiverse, feared by all, trifled with by no one. Strange would be Howard's perfect power source, just like the Soviets used to use Radioactive Man before his teammates saved him and then hid him for years. They've only come back into the game once the Accords have become a worldwide accepted law, no country an exception. Strange's fate would have been even worse, for his magic can be used in so many ways. A perfect energy source, a perfect weapon, a perfect tool, the key to the multidimensional gateway. Howard would have the multiverse itself in the palms of his hands and it would have only been a matter of time before he figured it out.</p><p>And then there were all the creatures who had served Dormammu whose loyalty and servitude was now absolute to Stephen. Compared to Domrammu's forces, Thanos was a child playing at war. Stephen had that and Howard wanted it.</p><p>And Toni's mother was no better.</p><p>The Asgardians are far from the only race to visit Earth, even though it was a part of the Nine Realms and extremely important given it was in the middle of all passageways between the other realms and even other dimensions - i.e. the Sanctum Sanctorum - and was supposedly protected. The Kree and the Skrull were only the beginning. They had come here even during the active stages of the war, fighting battles in smaller units, leading thousands of human lives into a mindless slaughter as they took over ancient countries and waged their silly wars, fighting for resources and the control over the planet. Ever sine archaeologists got more freedom to dig, they've started digging up strange materials and even remains that couldn't possibly be human. Amongst those remains they apparently found test subjects of experimentation of joining Kree and Skrull DNA so the Kree would have the ability to shapeshift. The US government immediately collected all those remains and experiments and started making their own even before the first War World began, trying to create the ultimate weapon.</p><p>What she found extremely surprising was that her mother had been their first successful test subject and she had already been sixty years old when the testing had begun. The experiment couldn't be repeated, for reasons unknown, but she had been successful and it had rejuvenated her by forty years and kept her with the appearance of a twenty year old for two decades.</p><p>Toni only knew this because FRIDAY and EDITH scooped around a bit and JARVIS accessed their immense copies of all of SHIELDRA's files. Her mother had been the one to start the Red Room program just as the unrest before the war was beginning. Having her on the SSR team ensured that the Russians and the Americans were a team.</p><p>Howard fell in love with the ruthless woman and she, in turn, fell in love with a man willing to burn the world down to get what he wants and to hold all of the power in his hands. They were perfect for each other.</p><p>Toni feared what it said about her that she was their daughter.</p><p>Perhaps Howard had been so disappointed in her because she wanted peace and progress, inventing the future one day at a time instead of being the merchant of death and destruction her parents had been hoping for.</p><p>For once, Toni was <em>extremely </em>glad she never got her father's approval.</p><p>They were worse than <em>HYDRA</em>. Her <em>parent's </em>were worse than <em>HYDRA</em>. They made HYDRA seem like the <em>good guys</em>, for crying out loud! She ah always known she'll never have her father's approval but she had had hopes for her mother's pride at the woman she had become. A hero. So many people admired her and praised her for the good she did for the world. Her mother had loved her charities, devoting more of her time to them than her daughter. Jarvis had raised her but she had always wanted to do good like her mother.</p><p>Oh dear lord, <em>Jarvis</em>! <em>'Please,'</em> she silently begged the universe.<em>'Please don't let him be anyone other than he has shown himself to be, whom I have always thought him to be.'</em> It would be too much. Obadiah - (<em>Stephen?</em>) - Howard, Maria and now <em>Jarvis</em>? It would be too much. Everything that has happened so far was already way too much. She wasn't sure how much more she could handle before she broke. <em>'By the stars, I want Stephen.'</em> She wanted to be in his arms again, for him to whisper to her how he will always be there for her, how he will never let anything happen to her, how he treasured her above anything and everything he had ever done, seen or anyone he had ever met. She just wanted him there.</p><p>As if summoned by her thoughts - <em>not</em> that it was <em>impossible</em>; she had called to him when Thanos was seconds away from killing her with her thoughts and will alone and he had heard her and he had <em>come </em>- a sparkling portal opened in the room she had been sharing with the now distressed teens, out stepping Strange, only to freeze upon feeling the atmosphere of the room. His eyes passed over the distraught teens before zeroing in on her in a gesture as familiar to her as breathing. She was always the center of his attention.</p><p>The familiarity of it only made her more choked up.</p><p>And he was across the room, by her side, in a blink, a faintly scarred hand gently brushing hair away from her face, brows deeply furrowed in concern. "What <em>happened</em>?" He was right next to her, but the sound of his voice seemed to be coming from miles away. Still, his mere presence was managing to calm her down but Toni didn't want this kind of calm. This kind of calm was emotional exhaustion catching up to her and she didn't have the time to waste resting from it. If she could, she'd be the happiest to just finish all of this in one day. Maybe tell Strange not to meet with Clea or simply not to make anymore deals with her. She even wanted to tell him not to cheat on her or even not to go to that party they met at. But that was selfish and putting the entire universe at risk. Hell, maybe even the multiverse. Toni didn't know anymore.</p><p>All she knew, all she had ever known in the past decade of her life, was that Stephen was safety and calmness and she wanted that right now more than anything, <em>desperately</em>, but knew that she shouldn't have it. Not when they were still in danger of being found - this hotel wasn't exactly cities away from the other one - and not when her <em>parents </em>were the ones looking for them so they could turn the love of her life into a fucking <em>living battery</em>.</p><p>"Toni found out who the human shapeshifter is and why they are after you," she thought she heard Harley explain, but everything was beginning to feel a bit fuzzy. Her eyelids felt extremely heavy and she was only distantly aware that she might be leaning onto something soft yet firm. The hand in her hair, massaging her skull, was, however, a grounding anchor and she never wanted it to stop. Maybe she could close her eyes, just for a second.</p><p>"I don't see how that would upset her to this level," a deep, rumbling voice said from seemingly above her.</p><p>"Amongst other things, she found out her parents were involved." That must be Shuri. The voice was feminine and only she would sound so reasonable while telling a half-truth. Had she been able to focus, Toni would have applauded her for her usage of the tenses to actually make that statement more true than false. It would also throw Strange off her trial if he ever tried to track down a Carbonell family. Toni could only hope it doesn't lead him to Maria's, though she was beginning to doubt anything she had ever known about her mother, including how she lived her life before she and Howard met.</p><p>There was a pause, long and heavy, and Toni didn't like it. he never liked silence. That was why her music was always ramped up loud enough to damage her eardrums in her lab while she worked. That was why she would chat when no one else seemed to have anything else to say. Silence only allowed her to focus on the maelstrom going on around in her head. Those never ending thoughts, questions, possible answers, equations, problems, solutions, plans, designs, schematics, probabilities and possibilities ... It was often too much even for <em>her</em>, even with Extremsi, <em>especially </em>with Extremis. Extremis had made sure even in her sleep she can focus on them and that's not the best idea given she already thinks about it constantly while awake. Noise was a distraction. Toni thrived in noise and racket. It let her know she wasn't alone.</p><p>That she wasn't still on the other side of the wormhole, in the vacuum of space.</p><p>It let her know she had actually escaped Siberia instead of being nearly killed there.</p><p>It let her know that the next noise she'll hear won't be the riffle fire of her own weapons as she exited an Afghani cave with shrapnel in her chest and revenge in her heart.</p><p>It let her know she won't drown under her own house and that she won't freeze in some random patch of woods in Tennessee.</p><p>It let her know Stephen hadn't left her alone forever, that he hadn't walked out because she chased him away and that he wasn't ever coming back. It meant she hadn't lost her dearest friend, the man she had given her heart to before either of them had realized.</p><p>And then the silence was broken and she felt like she could breathe again - when had she stopped? - as a soothing voice reached her ears. Calling her. Comforting her. "Toni? Toni, I need you to listen to me. I know you can hear me Toni. I need you to calm down and take deep breaths. You're currently having a heart attack and I personally am freaking out because there are two voices coming out of your chest reciting litanies of the same information. They say that usually calms you down. I'm a bit confused by some of the things they're saying, but my opinion doesn't matter. If it helps, I can repeat it all for you."</p><p>Panic attack? Yeah, that sounds about right. So why weren't JARVIS and FRIDAY calming her down? <em>'Or maybe they are. They must be the voices Strange mentioned.'</em> So why couldn't she <em>hear </em>them? She had <em>never </em>been so panicked before that <em>JARVIS</em>' voice couldn't penetrate her waking nightmares. She should have been better by now. It wasn't her first time. Not after Afghanistan. God, even before that, she'd had a freak out every now and then, usually because of the 'accident' her parents and butler had been in. But it had never been this bad before. JARVIS could <em>always </em>reach her, especially after Extremis. That was the <em>whole </em>point of it.</p><p>"Do you want me to do that Toni?" And yet Strange's voice was heard over her panic anyways. She couldn't help but squeeze whatever it was that she was holding on to in frustration at that information, especially given what has been going on lately, a bit pissed he meant so much to her despite what she - thought - had seen and what she - thought - knew. "I'll take that as a yes. Okay, so ... You're in a hotel room in the L'France Royal Hotel, Paris, France. The date is 5th of January 1945. The time is nine thirty in the morning. You are fine. You are safe. Peter, Harley and Shuri are just in the next room. I thought you might not want them to see this. I am here and I am well. Your other friends are, according to the two voices, back home and safe, mostly not involved in this whole mess- <em>How </em>do you know about the Cloak of Levitation?! Seriously, there are a lot of things you need to explain to me, Toni, but all of that can come later. For now, try and breathe with me."</p><p>Only then did she realize that whatever she had squeezed was now squeezing back, bringing her hand up to rest against a slowly, steadily rising and falling chest - or so she could only guess, as she was still pretty much blind to the world but this felt familiar - so she can feel the calm beating of a heart. For some reason, it instantly calmed her down, though she'd be a liar if she said she didn't know why. Now that he'd penetrated the veil of panic, Toni knew this was Stephen and so she knew this was his heart. And after seeing him in the state that Clea left him in, to feel his strong heart and his steady breaths was a relief she had not known she needed. It actually allowed her to start trying to mimic his breathing, calming down as the blood stopped rushing into her ears and the world stopped spinning. She could finally hear her AIs, though their voices sounded like whispers at the moment.</p><p>Still better than that deafening silence from before.</p><p>"There you go, that's it. Just breathe for me, Toni. In and out, in and out." By the time he had slowed down his rhythm and she followed it, she felt a lot more like herself, namely trying to clam down her worried AIs and wondering how the kids had taken her acting like this. She'd never allowed any of them to see her so weak and vulnerable before. Well, Harley had, but he had been really young. He must have urged the other two to get out so she can calm down after she finishes her episode. Another reason she had taken him was because he knew the kind of shit she went through. He had helped through some of the episodes over the years, after all, even if it was over the phone.</p><p>When she was finally calm enough, Toni realized the position she was in and wondered how this was her life. Strange was sitting on the floor like he was just about to meditate, one arm wrapped around her and up the whole length of her back - tall bastard - with his hand stroking her hair, long fingers massaging comfort into her skull, and Toni was in his lap, her legs on either side of his hips, head resting against his shoulder and collarbone, leaning against him for support. One of her hands clawed at the sleeve of his upper arm, gripping tight enough to rip the beautiful fabric. Toni wondered if she had scratched him over the clothes with her tight and frantic grip.</p><p>What both surprised her and not at all was that her other hand, the left one, she found it gripping Strange's no doubt painfully tight and yet Stephen was not letting go. She was just a stranger to him - no pun intended - yet he was letting her hold his hand, such a delicate matter despite them having healed decades ago. But she knew Stephen was compassionate, though he usually didn't show it. He <em>did </em>protect their reality, after all. He just wasn't so upfront with offering his aid like this to others, preferring to keep to the shadows so he can more easily disappear when people start getting suspicious about him not aging. Yet was ready to make an impact on Toni's life, holding her close and comforting her and Toni didn't know what to make of all of this. Especially given that she had just that morning contemplated the possibility of never holding Strange's hands again.</p><p>"Are you feeling a bit better now?" Asked Strange when he noticed Toni was now more aware of her surroundings. The woman had barely enough energy to nod. Fuck, she <em>hated </em>breakdowns like this. It always left her so <em>exhausted</em>. Maybe she shouldn't have talked to the kids about what she found out after the way she had been spending her days as of late immediately after they woke up when she hadn't had a decent night of sleep in who knows how long.</p><p>-A little over a week, Sir. I would advise you take some rest soon.- She snorted at JARVIS' immediate reply and at the sense of nodding in agreement that FRIDAY sent her in a data burst. Damn it, but she could see why she needed it.</p><p>"Okay, that's good. Now, I need you to do something that might seem extremely hard for you, Toni," the man said, unaware of the exchange happening in her head. He easily drew her attention back to him and she blinked blearily up at him. The action was getting harder to do every minute. "But you have to do it for me, okay?" She nodded and Stephen might be smiling down at her or maybe she was imagining things. Why was she this tired again? "You need to sleep for a bit, okay? Because you're okay. We're going to be okay, Toni. I'll make sure of it. You can rest now."</p><p>And just like that, Toni closed her eyes and let the blackness come.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>When she came back to, an entire day later, Toni would be lying if she said she didn't feel like she had been reborn. Everything had simply been piling up on her lately and she hadn't had decent rest in over a week, if not even longer, all things considered. Rest and relaxation is why she had headed for Kamar-Taj in the first place before this shit started, after all. She should have known she wouldn't be getting any of it so easily after things had been so relatively peaceful. It still sucks to be robbed of it the way she had been but she was grateful for this chance to rest.</p><p>It bothered her a little to know she had no nightmares after the events that had been happening in the past couple of days. Between what she had walked in on, Stephen's condition, the trip to Hell, the trip to the past and finding out just what kind of people her parents had been, it should have ensured enough nightmare material for her not to be able to get any peaceful sleep for months and that's not even counting the things that have piled up over the years as the usual nightmares haunting her nights. But, then again, the last year in general had been one hell of a better sleeping situation, seeing as she now had someone to hold her protectively as she slept. Also, she had no doubts that Stephen was somehow involved in her peaceful nights. He <em>had </em>once mentioned the Dream Realm or whatever.</p><p>All she knew was that sleeping peacefully in Stephen Strange's arms was no new ordeal for her.</p><p>And yet she was startled to wake to his face next to hers, peaceful in sleep, his arms holding her close to his chest as they rested on the big bed in the master bedroom. Even in his sleep, his hold wasn't touching any inappropriate places and was protective and comforting over everything else. Even when he was being possessive of her in front of others, it's usually to help her out, like that one time with Hammer while they were still only friends. It was Hammer's first public appearance after he finally managed to buy his way out of prison and he had, predictably, went straight for Toni, intent on going back to his old games in order to boost his tarnished image. Stephen, who was at that point a constant presence in Toni's life after the shit storm that was the Battle of New York and tended to come as her 'date' - "Can't we remove the air quotes and just be on a real date?" Stephen had more than once fake complained, mischief and what she now knew to be longing shinning in his emerald eyes, which Toni ignored, still refusing to acknowledge the inevitable - to these parties, had acted the most 'caveman' she had ever seen him and she had cackled in delight at his own disgust after he could drop the act when he finally scared Justin off. He had glared, he had growled, he had made threatening steps forward, he had constantly made his 'claim' on Toni known by placing his hand on her lower back, around her shoulders or around her waist. He had acted the least gentlemanly she had ever seen him before - not counting their first night together, later on, when he <em>devoured </em>her - and she had thought it both hilarious and cute.</p><p>Even when they became a couple, he never dropped the mannerisms, always being respectful towards her and never letting her feel objectified. Even in bed. Even when he was <em>asleep</em>! <em>'Trust me to truly find the only real gentleman remaining,'</em> Toni echoed her won thoughts from way back when, absentmindedly letting a sweet, soft smile spread over her lips so she didn't drop it fast enough when green eyes opened and met hers.</p><p>"You know, you look even more beautiful when you smile, Toni, especially like that."</p><p>Toni inwardly cursed when she felt heat crawl up her face, retaliating by hitting the doctor on the chest and trying to push away from him. Strange let her, chuckling fondly and the genius' stomach flipped, shivers running down her back like they always did when hearing that chuckle. She didn't have to look back at him to know his eyes were still on her. Like always, she could feel them clear as day. "Don't say creepy shit like that, you idiot. And where did you get off calling me Toni?"</p><p>"It's not creepy shit if it's true and sorry if I'm overstepping the boundaries you're constantly setting for me, but it's what Harley called you yesterday and it helped me calm you down. I can go back to Ms Carbonell," he said, trailing off as he also got up. Toni noted they hadn't even been under the covers. Instead, an all too familiar and well loved red piece of cloth straightened out from where she had crumbled it in her heist to put some distance between herself and Stephen, the Cloak of Levitation coming to rest on its master's shoulders.</p><p>Toni stared at the familiar visage of her (ex?) boyfriend and faltered in her firm resolve to deny him the right. He had helped her last night, after all. "I guess you have a right to call me Toni. Anyone who deals with me in the midst of a panic attack deserves to call me Toni." She did her best to ignore how Strange's smile at her response made fucking butterflies dance in her stomach. <em>'So not cool.'</em> "Now stop grinning like a fool and let's go find the kids. We have plans to make."</p><p>"Yes ma'am!"</p><p>Toni just shook her head. Soldiers were <em>so </em>not her type. "Never call me that again."</p><p>Strange just winked at her. "Of course, <em>Toni</em>."</p><p><em>'Oh for </em>fuck's <em>sake, I'm screwed.'</em> If the goosebumps she got from the way he caressed her name was any indication, at least.</p><p>And here she thought this would be simple.</p><p>00000</p><p>Over the next few days, Toni and her team did nothing but track the movements of Rogers, the SSR and Toni's parents while keeping an eye out for Clea, waiting for when she might show up, all the while also trying to track down the shapeshifter Strange was after. It was boring, tedious work which they tended to split between themselves so no one would die of boredom. Heck, they even managed to drag Stephen into it, after Toni took the time to - partially - explain how JARVIS and the others operated. Except the Clea part. They dared not mention her name for fear of driving Strange straight into her arms and into her trap. Or, worse yet, making him think <em>they </em>were his enemies.</p><p>You do <em>not </em>want Stephen Strange as your enemy. Not if you want to continue existing.</p><p>It all was starting to get to Toni. January was coming to a close and yet there was still no signs of the woman. If she doesn't show up soon, they'll have to wait for the end of the year, which was not optimal. They have only one proper shot at this as it was. Messing with time multiple times could create ripples, could damage the time stream. Messing with time, as she had once explained to Fury, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the never members of the Avengers, was more dangerous than what the rest of the Infinity Stones together could achieve. They were taking a great risk as it was but this was the only way to save Stephen. Toni will make sure this one chance counts.</p><p>On January 29th, Stephen tracked down the Skrull to be located in London, seemingly searching for something. They both figured it out that the Skrull wanted the secrets of their people back, as they were tailing none other than Maria and, with her, Howard. Which brought them back to staying in the same establishment as the Howling Commandos for the second time, only this time, only Toni was on the stage, keeping an eye out for trouble with Strange in the crowd and Peter following the Skrull while Harley kept an eye on Maria. Shuri was acting as Toni's backup, should anyone recognize her and approach the stage. Toni found herself lucky that Howard seems to not be coming out of his lab tonight, as he would surely recognize her, even if her hair was in a bun, she was wearing lightly shaded blue glasses - nanotech and extremely highly advanced - and was using Extremis to cover up her real eye color, also hence the sunglasses. It was as good a disguise she could get without stealing wigs. It seemed to be working, except on Barnes, who was eyeing her curiously beside Rogers.</p><p>Though her song choice might have given her away, if nothing else.</p><p>
        <em>Shot guns and roses<br/>
Make a deadly potion<br/>
Heartbreak explosions<br/>
In reckless motion</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Teddy bears and "I'm sorry" letters<br/>
Don't seem to make things better<br/>
Don't bury me alive<br/>
Sweet talk and lullaby</em>
      </p><p>Toni can see Shuri shaking her head at her, but Toni couldn't help her choice of song. Maybe, once upon a time, she would never have even considered this song as something she'd sing, mostly because she never even used the word devil as a metaphor. Hell, she wouldn't have thought she'd ever consider this song even after Stephen. But it came to mind as she regarded him from backstage, the way he was getting all those looks from women and ye his remained on he stage, alert, waiting for Toni to come out in her golden gown. She wanted to sing that song despite what had happened to start her and her three teens on this journey/rescue mission in the first place.</p><p>A lot has been happening in the month she and Stephen got to re-know each other. Honestly, Toni felt like just after her birthday party when she was dying of palladium poisoning and then, as the days passed, like all that time after New York. Stephen was telling her all these new stories she'd never heard before, going into detail how he and Mephisto met, how he befriended one of the Watchers, how Eternity and he are some sort of friends, how he fought Nightmare, how he trained to control the power he got from Dormammu, how and what he had tried to reverse what the demon had done to all those people who are today the Mindless Ones, how he got over what happened to his hands and so many more. She had never realized just how little she actually knew about him until he started talking to her about all the shit that happened to him even before he became Sorcerer Supreme, before he was the practically invulnerable immortal she was used to.</p><p>And that begged to question why Stephen told her so little of himself, even after a decade of knowing each other. Did Strange still not trust her enough? Though, given what she knows now about her parents and that Strange knew she was their kid, it might make sense. It still bothered her that he'd open up this much to a virtual stranger compared to someone whom he spent almost every day with for the good part of the last ten or so years of his life.</p><p>It didn't mean she was any less eager to find out more things about him, even if it hurts just thinking about leaving this Strange behind in the past and then never getting to have the future him when they go back home.</p><p>
        <em>But I-I-I-I-I can't stop the rush<br/>
And I-I-I-I-I can't give you up<br/>
No I-I-I-I-I, know you're no good for me<br/>
You're no good for me</em>
      </p><p>She saw Strange frown at the lyrics and had to suppress a giggle, knowing what was coming was going to have a <em>spectacular </em>reaction. From <em>everyone</em>. Because while her first song was about fighting and resisting the devil, this one was almost completely opposite.</p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil<br/>
And now I'm in trouble<br/>
I fell in love with the devil<br/>
I'm underneath his spell (ah)</em>
      </p><p>Said devil was gawking at her almost as much as everyone else was and Toni only kept a straight face due to the emotions running through her while she continued singing. After all, she was absolutely willingly under this so called spell and she hadn't minded it for years. Not until that one day, not so long ago, when her world shattered and fell at her feet.</p><p>
        <em>Someone send me an angel<br/>
To lend me a halo<br/>
I fell in love with the devil<br/>
Please, save me from this hell (Oh-oh-oh-oh)</em>
      </p><p>Thankfully, she had her own angels appearing just when she needed them the most. Had the kids not been at the Tower, she might have done much worse in her grief and anger at what had happened to the single most meaningful relationship she had ever been in. But she cared too much for Harley, Peter and Shuri to let even the loss of Stephen to fall into a pit of despair and disappoint the three teens. Harley and Peter especially, given they both looked at her as a mother figure of sorts. Shuri was around as much as she could be, all things considered, but it was mostly the two boys that she saw on a regular basis. They have both saved her in her time of need before. For them, she couldn't allow her grief to destroy her. She had had to seal off the self-destruct button ages ago, just for them. Though, to be fair, Strange had been keeping it out of her reach for an even longer time, if she was being honest with herself.</p><p>Still, Strange had gone and betrayed her like no one else ever could. It was why her reaction had been so strong. No one had ever had quite an impact like he had on her and her life. Even Rhodey, Happy and Pepper couldn't compare. When they had accepted her erratic and downright suicidal behavior when she'd been dying of heavy metal poisoning and had just turned their backs to her, it was bad and she had sulked a bit, though Stephen's intervention is what had actually given her the time to do that, too. Still, she had been able to function. Even more than that! She had invented a whole new element in her basement! She had saved herself while her friends were off turning their backs to her when she had needed their support. Stephen had been there. He was always there.</p><p>The only ones who had ever been able to compare to Doctor Stephen Strange were Edwin Jarvis and Dr Ho Yinsen. One had seen her born into the world and kept her alive long enough for the other to save her and realize <em>why</em> she had been born.</p><p>Still, it was Stephen who saw her through some of her toughest moments and it will always be Stephen. Even now, when they were virtual strangers once more, he held her hand through finding out just how <em>bad</em> her parents were.</p><p>
        <em>Got me playing with fire (playing with fire)<br/>
Baby, hand me the lighter (hand me the lighter)<br/>
Tastes just like danger (tastes just like danger)<br/>
Chaotic anger (chaotic anger)</em>
      </p><p>Strange was just like fire. Get too close and you'll eventually get yourself burned. And Toni, like the masochist she so obviously was, gladly stoked the flames until they burned her whole. She never regretted it. Meeting Stephen had changed her life. He was the one constant she could rely on like she only did JARVIS, FRIDAY and her bots. She hid from everyone else when hurting or vulnerable. She lashed out at everyone when agitated but he always stayed, sometimes giving back as good as he got until she gets her head back in order.</p><p><em>Strange</em> was dangerous.</p><p>What she <em>had</em> with Strange was <em>dangerous</em>. Even she knew that. Even a fool would know that but the genius hadn't cared and, to be honest, still doesn't. She had seen him at his best and she had seen him at his worst, wielding dark powers against the rogue Avengers at that first meeting they had with the man. He never hid what chaos his anger could cause. He never shied away from the moniker he carried or the fear he instilled in all other creatures. Strange wasn't dangerous because he was immortal and practically invulnerable.</p><p>He was dangerous because, even before absorbing Dormammu's power, he had already had unlimited potential and an ability his closest friends and even his master considered extremely dangerous.</p><p>Stephen Vincent Strange was dangerous because he knew how to be.</p><p>
        <em>But I-I-I-I-I can't stop the rush<br/>
And I-I-I-I-I can't give you up<br/>
No I-I-I-I-I, no you're no good for me<br/>
You're no good for me</em>
      </p><p>And yet Toni was drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame, she had allowed herself to get close, <em>too close</em>, enjoying the warmth even as it burned her from the inside out.</p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil<br/>
And now I'm in trouble<br/>
I fell in love with the devil<br/>
I'm underneath his spell (Ahhh)<br/>
Someone send me an angel<br/>
To lend me a halo<br/>
I fell in love with the devil<br/>
Please, save me from this hell (Oh-oh-oh-oh)</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>Angels and devils always fight over me (fight over me)</em>
      </p><p>It sure as hell felt that way, anyway. There was always a struggle. She tried to do good, but it didn't always turn out for the best. Like the Ultron situation. That could have been so much worse. And she was always battling her selfish needs to protect her closest as opposed to protecting the world at large. She was far from a saint, for all that she had been ready to die for the world all those times.</p><p>
        <em>Take me to heaven, wake me up from this dream<br/>
Even in sunlight a cloud shadows over me (shadow over me)<br/>
It's now or never, wake me up from this dream</em>
      </p><p>Perhaps this whole ordeal was a sign, though. Strange had showed his hand, had made it clear where he stands. Toni had known he would eventually get tired of her, had warned him against it. As she'd told him, she wasn't the type of person to be taken in small douses. She was Toni Stark. She wad obnoxious and overwhelming and too much to handle even on a good day. But so was Stephen. She had thought they might actually work out, even if for just a little bit longer. Instead, Strange had went behind her back and decided having his life drained by a demon was a better alternative than sharing eternity with Toni Stark (okay, that was just a tad melodramatic and probably not true but she was pissed and slightly depressed, all things considered so give her a break).</p><p>But then they had ended up here, with this younger Stephen, who showered her with all the same attention her Strange had, fascinated by a woman like Toni in this so-limited a time. It felt like a dream, like she had fallen asleep one night and she was still dreaming. Because all of this was just so surreal, she almost didn't believe it to be reality. She wished it <em>was</em> all a dream, a nightmare haunting her, but the daily - for the group in the past - messages with Wong about Stephen's continuously deterring state of health and their own lack of any true progress in the past made it all <em>too</em> real, painfully so, even. Back in 2019, her Stephen was <em>dying</em> while she played footsies and cat and mouse with this Stephen here in 1945. As far as everything is concerned, this <em>was</em> a dream and reality waited for her back home.</p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil<br/>
And now I'm in trouble</em>
      </p><p>Toni can tell the exact moment Strange detected a sadness in her voice that wasn't a result of the song or the music. This was her, pure and simple, mourning what they had had and all that they <em>could</em> have had so, so easily. The relationship itself would have been majorly screwed up but at least they'd be screwed up together. As it was, Toni knew what returning back to their time will bring.</p><p>And that just made her <em>angry</em>.</p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil<br/>
I'm underneath his spell!</em>
      </p><p>She couldn't help but all but snarl/shout that last word, startling her audience out of their pitiful trance. She didn't care about them.</p><p>Who the hell was Strange to think he can play with her like this? And why the fucking hell was she letting him do it for a second time!? She knew she meant nothing to him, not really. His actions had communicated that well enough. All he had wanted, all he had cared about, was the challenge Toni had represented. She wasn't swayed by his usual methods so he had upped the game. What was a measly little decade to an immortal being? He had started off their interactions knowing she was mortal and that she would die sooner rather than later. That all changed when the Infinity Stones decided to pick her over Thanos or anyone else in the universe - a multiversal constant, as it turned out - and made her as immortal as him. And Strange had thought he can live with that but, as she had predicted, he couldn't. She only wished he would have broken up with her cleanly instead of how they ended things. It would have been infinitely better than <em>this</em> but she guessed all men were the same. They just couldn't keep it in their pants, could they. The gentlemanly face was a front. To him, she wasn't anything special.</p><p>And that <em>hurt</em>.</p><p><em>Someone send me an angel</em><br/>
To lend me a halo<br/>
I fell in love with the devil<br/>
Please, save me from this hell (this hell)</p><p>And it <em>was</em> hell, wasn't it? It was torment. Relentless, endless, painful. She might as well have become one of the souls trapped in Mephisto's realm for all the difference it would make. She just wanted it all to be <em>over</em>.</p><p><em>'How the hell is my mood changing so much?'</em> She couldn't help but wonder even as ahe slowly brought the song to an end. <em>'Just until a moment ago I was so </em>happy<em> to get to know Strange better, enjoying his stories and remarks. And yet now, not five minutes later, I'm acting like this. What is </em>wrong<em> with me?'</em> It's not even that time of the month for her! Though Extremis has been regulating that rather well over the few years she has had it. <em>'Something isn't right!'</em> She realized with a bit of panic, eyes leaving Stephen altogether, sliding over the room, searching, for what she didn't know but she <em>knew</em> something was seriously <em>wrong</em>. <em>'JARVIS, scan the area! FRIDAY, check the perimeter!'</em></p><p>
        <em>Dig deep, sink, sink, fear (ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh)<br/>
Dig deep, It's killing me</em>
      </p><p>-Sir, I am detecting the presence of a creature with energy seemingly originating from the Dark Dimension. It partially matches the signature we managed to scan of the individual known as Clea, though I can't seem to pinpoint the location.-</p><p>-Boss, there's something you need to see!- FRIDAY told her urgently not even a full second after JARVIS finished with his report. A window playing a live recording appeared in front of her 'inner eye' and unease and fear the likes of which Toni had felt only when she realized her weapons were being sold to terrorists fell over her when she saw none other than Howard and Clea, discussing something in one of the rooms of this very hotel, the woman's hands glowing with magic that reminded her of Maximoff's hexes despite them being a dark purple as opposed to the bright red the Scarlet Witch used. -They're in the room right above the stage and I'm detecting subtle energies that should have been enough to knock out one of those Chitauri space wales. Doctor Strange's pendant must be warding it off.-</p><p>Otherwise, Toni could have easily been dead if those amounts of energy even touched her. A hand involuntarily traveled to the pendant hidden beneath her 'dress' - a thing of gold beauty to match the Gauntlets made of her nanites with gems around her waist like a belt, matching the Soul and Time Stones and the Arc Reactor in color - feeling its warmth as it did its job. <em>'Can you get close enough to make out what they're saying? JARVIS, contact the kids. Tell Harley to keep a close eye on my mom. Ask Peter where our Skrull friend is.'</em> She wondered distantly why Strange wasn't sensing Clea's presence just one floor up but she prefers it this way. He needs to stay <em>away</em> from that bitch, after all, not run into her arms.</p><p>At least things were finally moving along. At least she didn't have to worry about Stephen <em>dying</em>. She just needed to screw Clea over somehow, just enough that she doesn't get to ask Strange to add things to their original deal. Hell, maybe she could get Strange to break it off right now! Or maybe even trick <em>Clea</em> into breaking it off! <em>'At least I know what she gets out of this deal. Strange's side is still all murky.'</em></p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil (dig deep) (ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh)</em>
      </p><p><em>"Ms Stark, the Skrull is on the move,"</em> Peter reported, startling her out of her contemplation as to what might be going on. <em>"They're headed to Mr Stark's room and they look armed. What should I do?" </em>Toni would have gladly told him to let the Skrull shoot the bastard, but Harley must have anticipated that because he hissed at Peter to disarm and detain the alien. <em>"On it!"</em></p><p><em>'Be careful. They might be peaceful but Carol said they're far from weak,'</em> Toni warned before turning her attention to Harley. <em>'She's not doing anything?'</em></p><p><em>"She got away!"</em> Grumbled the blond teen and Toni could just make out his glare as he fast walked through the crowd in search for Toni's shapeshifting mother. And to think Toni used to believe her life can't get more complicated than meeting her alternate selves or, for a lot longer time period, that there was nothing weirder than her new best friend being an immortal whose powers can't be measured because they are infinite. <em>"EDITH and I are looking for her but there's no trace of her anywhere! She must have changed forms again."</em></p><p>
        <em>And now I'm in trouble (sink, sink, fear) (ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh)</em>
      </p><p>Toni subtly looked down at her right hand, where the Soul Stone immediately glinted at her attention, sensing what her request would be. She'll forever be thankful to it as it found Maria within seconds. <em>"She's headed somewhere backstage. Keep </em>away<em>from her, kid. Shuri, meet up with Harley and </em>stay<em> with him. Right now, I'm the only one who can tell these shapeshifter dipshits apart. You two get over to Strange and make sure he's not approached by </em>any<em> women. Clea managed to change her appearance once. We </em>don't<em> want to find out when its too late again. Even if </em>I<em> approach, have JOCASTA and EDITH reach out to me over the comms before letting me get any closer. Fire at will if 'I' don't answer."</em></p><p><em>"Got it,"</em> the two replied and Toni focused back on Strange, only to find him tense in his seat, observing what was going on. He seems to have caught on to something happening but he has no idea what. Toni sighed in relief when she saw Harley going over to him, mimicking his potato gun to let her know it was him. She nodded at him but got distracted from searching for Shuri when Peter called her again.</p><p>
        <em>"I got him, Ms Stark! I got him! But the room is empty. Mr Stark and Clea are gone."</em>
      </p><p>Well, that's certainly not good. By this point, Toni wasn't even paying attention to the song she was singing. Her cover was far less important compared to the fact that the woman who will set off a spell that will one day start slowly killing Stephen was now once again on the loose, only they now knew she was close by. Definitely not good.</p><p>
        <em>'Get back to Doc, Pete. Harl's waiting and Shuri should be there any second now. I'll meet up with you guys as soon as I'm done. Have KAREN call ahead when you approach so they don't attack you.'</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Got it, Ms Stark. What about the Skrull?"</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>'Is he still in disguise?'</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Yeah, he looks like a stuart or something."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>'Get rid of anything fancy on him, drench his head and drag him behind you like he's a drunk friend. No one will turn a suspicious eye on you that way. Still try not to get caught. Once you get to Strange, web him up, put him in cuffs and have Strange magically restrain him and tag him. Until we find out what he wants, we want to keep an eye on him. Try and keep him unconscious until I get there.'</em>
      </p><p><em>"On it, Ms Stark."</em> They both cut the link, focusing on their respective roles as Toni finished up the song.</p><p>
        <em>I fell in love with the devil (dig deep) (ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh)<br/>
It's killing me</em>
      </p><p>She was off the stage as soon as she could get away with it, bowing to the cheering and whistling crowd. Some of them even threw flowers at her and she took the most beautiful one, a perfect red rose with a small bow in the familiar turquoise color of her butterflies that she has no doubt who it came from, kissing it seductively and causing an even louder reaction. She only cared for the arched eyebrow of surprise on Stephen's face that she glimpsed only long enough to register it before she was off the stage, leaving her adoring audience behind her as she disintegrated the flowing gold dress and replaced it with slacks, a military coat and hat, under which she hid her hair. She got rid of the glasses, too, for easier access to her helmet if it comes to her needing her suit. The Soul Stone worked like a GPS, leading her through the halls until she found herself near the dressing rooms, where she came to a stop when she saw Shuri in her battle gear, looking ready to storm the hall.</p><p>"Shuri? I thought I told you to randevu with the others!"</p><p>"I saw your mother headed this way impersonating you while you were still on stage so I came to keep track of her. It will be easier to corner her together," the Wakandan Princess replied, looking over to her as if expecting Toni to come closer, but found the billionaire rooted to her spot. "Toni?"</p><p>But she wasn't to be fooled. Shuri had been the most careful at not dropping hints that they weren't who they presented themselves to be. Not even Strange, who now knew Maria Colins Carbonell Stark wasn't the age she presented herself to be, knew she was Toni's mother and the genius had no intent on changing that. It wasn't safe for <em>anyone</em> for that secret to get out. Strange would just stop trusting them and end up getting himself killed. Shuri would never so brazenly call Maria Toni's mother where anyone could hear them. They didn't even reference her and Howard as Toni's parents because they all had to train themselves out of the habit of thinking of them as such lest they make a mistake out loud and someone hears them. They had to be careful at all times.</p><p>Besides, Toni had just told them all to announce themselves over the comms upon approach. Shuri wouldn't risk her life when she knows everyone will be a little trigger happy and extremely twitchy. One month of hunting for and being hunted by shapeshifters has a bad effect on your nerves. Still, Toni had to check before she shot. <em>'Shuri? Where are you?'</em></p><p><em>"What do you mean, where am I?"</em> Unless Shuri has developed her own version of technopathy or telepathy, the teenage girl before her wasn't the one talking, further confirming Toni's suspicions. <em>"I'm with Strange and the others, like you told me. Wait. Toni, what's going on?"</em></p><p>
        <em>'Tell the boys not to panic. I'll see you later. I'm going in.'</em>
      </p><p><em>"Toni, what-?"</em> But the genius inventor already shut down the link, instructing FRIDAY and JARVIS to not loose track of her. The only way she can find anything out ...</p><p>"Lower your weapons," she told her mother, forming a standard gun out of nanites and pointing it at the not-Shuri.</p><p>"Toni? What are you doing? It's me, Shuri!" Stark had to give it to her. Maria was a good actor. She would have made a much better spy than Romanoff in infiltrating SI had she been alive to be used as a spy. The Skrull DNA she must be utilizing is probably what's allowing that. That, though, would explain Toni's incredible public persona mask that she uses whenever she needs to cover her emotions.</p><p>"You're the shapeshifter that's been on my tail since I ran into Strange. Maria Collins Carbonell. The only survivor of the humanly bastardized Kree experiment, where the merger of their and the Skrull's DNA was attempted in order to achieve shapeshifting powers. SSR's best spy, infiltrator and weapon. Against <em>anything</em> and <em>anyone</em>. The spoken spouse of Howard Stark. What did you do to my friend and what do you want?" Better to play it dumb than let her know that Toni has some rather <em>special powers</em> of her own.</p><p>She could see the exact moment Maria decided to drop all pretenses and Toni found it frightening how quickly her expression became blank. Like there was no emotion there, no light, no <em>soul</em>. The Soul Stone finding her contradicted that but it only made it glaringly obvious how disgusting the soul existing there really was. It was nothing like Toni remembered of her mother. She wasn't a good mother and she was addicted to both alcohol and medical drugs. But Toni had always thought her to be a good person. At least a better one than Howard.</p><p>-Sir!- JARVIS alerted her to a change in Maria's posture with just enough time for her to react - something that would be possible only with Extremis, given how quickly it allowed her to process her surroundings - but Toni didn't, letting Maria draw a gun - tranquilizer - and shoot her. -Sir!-</p><p>-Boss!-</p><p>Toni stumbled back, bumping her shoulder against the wall and letting the drug have partial affect on her, enough for her to be able to fake falling down and loosing consciousness convincingly enough for Maria to take her wherever it was she wanted.</p><p>-Sir, please get up! You are in danger!- Her oldest and most advanced AI all but begged but Toni didn't listen because the only way she can find anything out ...</p><p>"Well, that was easier than I thought. I'm sure the boys will be <em>delighted</em> by what I bring in," Maria commented with a grin as Toni fakes being unconscious, letting her mother kick away the fake gun from her hands. Toni will have to make sure to get it back later.</p><p>... was if she lets them take her in.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>"What do you mean, it's an alloy you can't comprehend!? You're the genius here, Stark!" The voice of General Philips shouted and Toni just stared in boredom at the fake mirror in the interrogation room, observing the idiots on the other side, not that any of them knew that. She had left a bug that she and JARVIS were monitoring while FRIDAY had been, once again, sent out to snoop around, only this time with several little drones. She was waiting for her baby girl to find the filing room and start scanning for information.</p><p>Namely, the involvement of Clea in this whole manhunt on Stephen Strange mess.</p><p>"You said her eyes are brown. They were a really bright blue on the stage," Agent Peggy Carter commented to the others in the observation room, occasionally glancing at the woman they were preparing to interrogate. Toni had 'woken up' a couple of hours after the tranquilizer shot, cuffed to the desk, no food or water in sight. Though, to be honest, she would have preferred coffee right now, anyway. Coffee was her drug, her addiction. If she doesn't get her fix soon, she might just blow this place up to punish them for not giving her coffee. And she meant some <em>good</em> black coffee, nothing with possible sedatives or too little caffeine. Toni Stark was generally an easy woman to please.</p><p>But if you don't give her coffee when she asks for it, you might as well have signed your own death warrant if you're trying to negotiate/cooperate with her.</p><p>"I <em>mean</em> that the gun is made of some alloy with gold, I think. I'd need to do much more invasive tests to see what the other one is. And it doesn't even <em>look</em> like one of our guns, on the outside <em>or</em> the inside from what I've seen so far! I don't know if it even <em>works</em>! And her eyes <em>were</em> brown, I swear! I was face to face with her before she disappeared off of the face of the Earth!" Howard was yelling as much as the General was, only he sounded more pissed than anything else. He must be frustrated to not be able to recognize the gold-titanium alloy Toni first used for Project Pegasus, her super awesome satellite, before using it to solve the icing problem in the Iron Maiden Mark III and every next one that she made. The alloy itself was already technology beyond Howard's time. And the gun <em>was</em> functional, though only in Toni's hands. It fires a repulsor blast and is <em>definitely</em> nothing like the guns from this era. Toni was actually insulted by the comparison, even though she knew they didn't know any better. Still, either way, it was a pleasure watching these idiots squabble over her and something as simple as eye color and a single gun - though <em>neither</em> of those were truly simple, not that any of them knew or needed to know that little fact - instead of trying to question her.</p><p>Still, Toni knew the wait was actually a part of their strategy. Psychologists have long since discovered a lack of human company will more surely torture a person than a lack of food and water. Humans were social beings and needed company to communicate with, which is why when left alone for longer periods of time, they'll be <em>desperate</em> to speak with whoever comes to them. Also, being left in a white room, from floor to ceiling, with no further stimuli, was supposed to leave her hypersensitive to any amount of stimulation. Interrogation victims cracked when, after a long time in such conditions, the interrogator comes to get the information they want. The poor things are usually even <em>grateful</em> to them for their attention and more often than not <em>beg</em> the interrogators not to leave. It was a long game of waiting but even just a few hours would be enough to unsettle normal people.</p><p>Unfortunately for SSR, they had made a huge mistake. Toni Stark was <em>not</em> a normal person. Not only could she go <em>weeks</em> without human interaction and not even notice it and had a brain active enough that she'd never <em>lack</em> stimulation, she was also the world's first and probably <em>only</em> technopath. She had stored the world's two most advanced AIs in a corner of her brain and had access to them indefinitely. She was never alone. She can talk to them even as she sleeps. She also can work without needing any material things, though it's never a good idea to leave her with too much time for thinking and planning. Toni could take over the world back in 2019. You do <em>not</em> want to know how she can revolutionize it in the 1940s. And even <em>besides</em> all that, there were the Infinity Stones to consider. Both the Soul Stone and the Time Stone had ways to help her keep her sanity if she were somehow to loose any other means to entertain herself. And after being tortured, nearly dying several times and managing to partially run a secret service within her own company, Toni was pretty sure these guys couldn't break out anything that could make her talk or break her. Not after Afghanistan. Not after New York. Not after the Mandarin and Sokovia. Not after the Civil War and Siberia. <em>Not</em> after <em>Thanos</em>. Aside from killing her kids and friends in front of her, there was nothing they could do. Physical torture was futile, given she has Extremis to almost instantly heal her.</p><p>Toni was an interrogator's worst nightmare at this point. They could find no weak spots, no vulnerability they could use. Not when her kids were safe with the most powerful being in the universe and the rest of her family/friends were decades out of their reach.</p><p>"What about the thing in her chest? Or the metal gloves? You said those things have immense energy readings, matching the things HYDRA is using." One of the colonels involved in this whole project asked. JARVIS gave her his name but Toni didn't give two fucks about him. She cared more about them talking about the Infinity Stones and her Arc Reactor. She didn't like it.</p><p>"Okay, first, those aren't gloves, they're gauntlets and second, they seem to be emitting a lot of Gama radiation, which does indeed seem to match whatever weapons HYDRA is using. The chest thing, I have <em>no</em> idea what it is but I can only guess it's <em>maybe</em> of Earth origin? I do know that it's an energy source unlike any I've ever seen before and it's man made."</p><p>"Or woman made," Toni couldn't help but remark, drawing their attention back to her. The genius gave them all a very sharp grin, not even bothering to hide her hostility. "Just stating the right gender." She could tell the exact moment when their unease grew but she didn't make any more comments, waiting for them to decide how to go further from that point as they left the observation room in a rush. Given they had a bug following them and their every move, Toni and JARVIS still got to hear them decide that Carter, Philips and her father will go in while the remaining officer stays in the observation room to try and figure out how she had been spying on them. Toni just shook her head and greeted all three people entering the interrogation room by name and surname, just to fuck with them a little more.</p><p>She needed to buy FRIDAY time to scope out everything she could find that her parents might have on Clea. She needed to buy Strange and the others time to safely come in and get her out of here without making it obvious they were involved.</p><p>"So, you finally decided which strategy you want to use? I mean, to interrogate me, obviously, though I should warn you that I've been tortured before and I didn't break. In fact, my torturers and interrogators drew short stick in that interaction in the end so I suggest you just let me walk out of here and I'll leave your base in one piece."</p><p>Philips frowned at her, Carter looked ready to snort because they all knew Maria had dragged her ass in here 'unconscious' and 'easily defeated' and Howard surprised her by smirking approvingly. "I like this one. Reminds me a little of myself."</p><p>"Don't insult me!" Toni snapped, the reaction instinctive since she was in MIT but even more so now that she knew what kind of man he really was. She had always hated being compared to either of her parents, especially he father. Ever since she stopped trying to get their approval or any positive attention at the tender age of eight. She never understood why she gave up at such an early age, but she had and now it all made so much more sense.</p><p>Howard frowned, also insulted by her implications, but raised his hands in a surrendering motion, trying to calm down. "Okay, sheesh, sorry." But then he became serious again, just like when he had come after her the first day she was here in the past. "We have a lot to talk about with you, Miss, starting with who you are and where you come from because there are no records of an Antionai Carbonell anywhere and I would know. My dame shares your last name and she knows there are no Antonias in what's left of her old family."</p><p>"Are you HYDRA?" General Philips asked before Toni could even tell Howard where to shove it, getting to the heart of the matter. "Why are you here? Where did you get technology like that?"</p><p>"What's your relationship with Stephen Strange?" Agent Carter added in, leaning closer in an attempt to intimidate her. Like hell that was going to work. Toni had faced off against <em>Thanos </em>and had shot the actual <em>Devil </em>in the face with a <em>repulsor </em>because he had had the gall to smirk at the thought of Strange's death. She doesn't scare easy. Not after all that shit she'd been through.</p><p>"Your information network isn't the best and I know how to <em>hide</em>, so of <em>course </em>there is no records of an Antonia Carbonell for you to find. Your '<em>dame</em>' and I may not be related at all, Mr Stark, has it ever occurred to you? Just because I have some Italian blood in me and accidentally share the same last name as someone you know it <em>doesn't </em>mean I'm necessarily related to them. Carbonell isn't <em>that </em>rare of a surname, after all." Toni shot them all down, not even lying through her teeth and knowing none of them would realize how. It was all true, after all. She just didn't give them the full context behind it and they didn't know she was from the future. And there is no Antonia Carbonell. There was Antonia Edith Stark, the daughter of Maria Collins Carbonell Stark. Not yet. Not for another couple of decade. "I'm not HYDRA. If I <em>was </em>somehow HYDRA, your world would have already been at the Nazi's feet. Or my own. Why I'm here is none of your goddamn business, though I'll throw you a bone and say it's because I need to find my friend and stop him from making a fatal mistake. My tech is <em>my </em>tech. Try and take it and I will personally rip you apart piece by piece. Are we clear?" She gave them her most charming, press-worthy smile and enjoyed how they shivered at how casually she threw out such a dead serious threat. "As for my relationship with <em>Doctor </em>Stephen Strange," she stressed and smirked when Howard's mouth and Philips' eyebrow twitched, the former in amusement at her attitude and the General in annoyance. Toni leaned closer, mimicking Carter's earlier failed attempt at intimidation and enjoyed when the men actually leaned back a little while Carter rooted herself in her seated position even though JARVIS could detect all the symptoms of fear in his observations of her. "That is <em>also </em>none of your goddamn business. And now that we've gotten over the unimportant part of this conversation," the younger Stark leaned back in her seat, all pleasant smiles again that she could tell left them even more uncomfortable. To be expected. She had just gone full Merchant of Death on them before returning to the carefree Toni Stark public persona. "Why don't you tell me why Clea is working with you, why you're after Doctor Strange and why you're not focusing on this damned war. From what I've seen so far, you have your hands full and yet you're fooling around on the side."</p><p>Howard actually went to answer but Carter put a hand over his mouth, frowning disapprovingly at the only other woman in the room. "That's not how these things go. You don't get to ask us any questions. You <em>answer </em>them when we pose them."</p><p>The genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist just shrugged, unconcerned. "Look, this can go either of the two ways. Either we make a little <em>quid pro quo</em> with these questions and everyone gets the answers they want and I can get out of here before anything goes <em>boom </em>or you continue asking your questions, I don't answer and then your base gets blown up when you take too long to let me walk away when Doctor Strange gets impatient."</p><p>"If he's going to come after you, then it means you are important to him in some way," General Philips observed, stating matter of fact. He interlocking his hands on the table, regarding her with boredom that Toni didn't buy for a second. He was interested and he was desperate. "He wouldn't risk you being harmed in a half baked rescue attempt."</p><p>"Uh, have you <em>met </em>the guy? He could raise a city the size of New York to the ground with the exception of the things he wants to keep intact without breaking a sweat. I'm safe as safe can be." Which was actually mostly true only thanks to her armor and the pendant Stephen had given her way back when. She didn't actually know if he can do what she'd just said but she wouldn't be surprised. Still, her bluff was only <em>half </em>of a bluff. They'll never be able to tell. "So, do we have a deal or should I kick back and wait for my <em>very explosive and very dangerous</em> rescue party?"</p><p>Carter and Philips looked ready to argue and turn her down, but Howard stuck his hand out towards her, agreeing. "Deal." Toni eyed him warily, having JARVIS do a quick scan of him to make sure he had no drugs or bugs on him before shaking his hand. "Okay, how does that thing on your chest work. We tried removing it but it zapped me when I touched it-"</p><p>"Uh ah ah," Toni interrupted, crossing her arms as best as she could with the bindings. "I already asked several questions. I'm not giving you any answers until they've been addressed. After I hear a satisfactory, true answer for each question, I'll answer as many questions as you've properly answered. Don't think me stupid just because I'm a woman. You won't be leaving this room until I get my answers or you'll end up waiting for Doctor Strange with me in here. And I can tell you the guy can be quite scary when someone takes something from him, even if it's only a recent ally."</p><p>"Fine," Howard easily conceded, obviously far more interested in her technology than anything else the two more trained occupants of the room would like to ask her. "Clea is the one who pointed me and Maria in Strange's direction. Told us Strange had found a way to access a limitless energy source and was using it to become immortal. An energy source that comes from her dimension, her domain and that she wanted it back, wanted revenge on Strange for taking something from her that was hers and only hers by right of inheritance or something like that. We made a deal. She'll give us a part of the source of the energy Strange had took if we helped her take him down and take back the original source of energy he had taken. She said he had absorbed it and we'd have to suck it out of him but she said it wasn't a hard process and that she'd help us. And this is for the war effort. HYDRA is using energy weaponry the likes of which I've never seen before! If we could match them, we'd stand a better chance. A lot less people would die or be disintegrated. My job isn't on leading the war, it's enabling others to do so without wasting human life."</p><p>Toni stared at him, confused and somehow relieved. This was far from absolving Howard of his want to suck Strange dry of the energy that was practically intertwined with his life force before a full year had passed since he absorbed it, but it at least showed her her father wasn't the monster she had started thinking him of in the past month. She still didn't know what to think of her mother. She still didn't know what to think of Howard. At least she knew they were being deceived by Clea about Strange. At least she knew they weren't <em>worse </em>than HYDRA after all. That was something. She could live with that.</p><p>"Clea is deceiving you. She may be heiress to the dimension by 'blood' but Stephen Strange is its master by <em>right</em>, having defeated its previous master and <em>saved Earth</em> in the process," she informed them, knowing she shouldn't be telling this to these three but <em>needing </em>them to stop assisting Clea. Maybe they were the ones who had created an opportunity for her to approach him while he was chasing the other shapeshifter. Besides, even if she saves Strange from Clea's manipulation, she needs her parents and the future SHIELD to not hunt Strange after she goes back to her own time. "Doctor Strange is a good guy. Not necessarily a hero, but a protector. Sucking out the energy he possesses - which he got when he defeated the previous master of the supposedly Clea's dimension - would kill him and leave Earth in Clea's hands and, in case you didn't know, she's a demon. She doesn't care about us. She'd either leave us to fend for ourselves or she'd conquer our world and add it to her late uncle's collection, enslaving us all. I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but trust me on this at least. Strange is not your enemy. The energy he possesses is not anyone else's to wield."</p><p>Howard hesitated, looking at his companions, who were looking back at him as he had been the one who was leading the hunt on the Sorcerer Supreme in the first place, before looking back at his future daughter. "Then how are we going to fight HYDRA back? They've been using more and more of those energy weapons and the only thing they don't affect is Captain America's shield."</p><p>Toni hesitated, knowing what she was doing, knowing what it will lead to, knowing it just might change the future, before saying 'screw it' to herself and rattled off a set of coordinates. "There's a HYDRA base there. On February 2nd, a train will be headed there through the Alps. Armin Zola, head scientist of Johann Schmidt, will be on board along with the technology you're seeking. The source of the energy they're using to power it is still in Schmidt's red hands but you'll at least have an idea as to what you're going up against."</p><p>"And why should we risk the lives of our men on your unreliable information when we could just take that out of your chest and be done with it?" Philips asked in a condescending drawl and Toni bristled, letting her eyes turn Arc Reactor blue on instinct, slapping her hand hard enough against the table to punch through the metal. The three jumped away from her, terrified, as she sat up and leaned over their sitting selves.</p><p>"Because I'll never let anyone touch my Arc Reactor ever again."</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>She fucked up. Toni knew she fucked up when she lost her temper and showed her true Extremis enhanced strength, but she couldn't have stopped herself even if she wanted to. Years have passed but the Arc Reactor in her chest was still a touchy subject. Even if it was no longer keeping her alive like before she took out the shrapnel and injected herself with Extremis, it was still a part of her, now perhaps more than ever. It had quite literally integrated with her when Extremis 3.0 changed her. She and the suit were one, but so were the Arc Reactor and her as well.</p><p>It scared her interrogators off, that was for sure. It made an impression. The soldiers standing in front of the door and the ones watching from the observation room were worried, afraid. Toni could understand why. Extremis was a <em>lot</em> like the supersoldier serum. The only difference was that it not only enhanced her strength, speed, healing factor and durability but it also turned her brain into a supercomputer - her own tweaking had allowed for that - and it gave her added abilities. The original Extremis virus made that added ability spewing fire. Toni's version 3.0 allowed her to become the world's first ever technopath. Extremis had been put to the test against Erskine's supersoldier serum before. Rogers had thought he had won. He <em>lost</em>. Had he not went for the Arc Reactor ... She might not have aimed for the head, might not have aimed to hurt, to maim, to <em>kill</em>. Rogers had brought it upon himself. He had seen the reaction she had had when Barnes tried yanking it out and he had still went for the Arc Reactor. Had it not been for Extremis, for that operation, she would have been dead several times over already.</p><p>She shouldn't have lost her cool. She should have thought her actions through. Toni was only glad she had had enough presence of mind to hold the armor back. Iron Maiden was a thing of the future. The only 'hero' in this era can be a war one. Rogers and his Howling Commandos were it. Toni's place wasn't here. It was in 2019 and as soon as this shit was solved, she'll be going back. But she needs to get out of this cave first. FRIDAY was already almost done. She had scanned almost all the files SSR had gathered on Strange, Clea and now Toni and her little team, too. She'll be setting those on fire as soon as she gets the nanites forming the 'fake' gun Toni had made to get Maria to take her in. It won't be long now before Toni is ready to get the fuck out of here and hide for the rest of their stay in the past. Early winter of 1945 was almost completely over. Clea has been stopped. Now Toni only has to prevent her from approaching Strange at some other time after this. Or get Strange to listen to her about not accepting the offer Clea might make.</p><p><em>'Heavens, this is such a mess,'</em> she thought, accepting JARVIS' comfort when her AI offered it. JARVIS was a blessing. She really didn't know what she'd do without him. Those other Starks who had been left without their JARVIS, no matter the amount of time ... She kind of pitied them. FRIDAY was awesome all around, real kickass, and Vision was really cool and sweet, too, but JARVIS was JARVIS. She just loved her co-pilot so much.</p><p>-Thank you, Sir. The feeling is mutual.- She smiled at that. She knew it was mutual, otherwise JARVIS would have never supported her decision to risk it with Extremis 3.0 without further diagnostics than the few they had managed to do before she talked Stephen into doing the operation. Still, hearing that always made her day. She just wished things could be less complicated. -Endure a little while longer. It will all be over soon and everything can return to normal.-</p><p><em>'I'm not sure </em>anything<em> can ever return to even our brand of normal, J. Too much has happened.'</em> Stephen, Clea, time travel, this whole mess with her parents ... All she needed now was for Rogers to come into the picture and start annoying her.</p><p>And, as if summoned by her thoughts, someone opened the door and none other than Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, stepped in. Toni couldn't hold back her reaction to this anymore than she could to someone threatening to pull out her Reactor. "You have <em>got</em> to be kidding me."</p><p>"Relax," a familiar voice said and Toni winced when she watched Rogers shrink and turn into her mother. Which was freaky as hell, mind you, but still not the weirdest shit Toni had seen so far. Years younger and dressed drastically differently than when Toni knew her and what she remembered of her, it was still undoubtedly Maria Collins Carbonell Stark. Her outfit looked similar to Romanov's battle uniform, only it didn't have the slimness and elegance the suit Toni made for the Black Widow did. Howard didn't yet have the materials to make someone look good while still protecting them. Toni had made a fortune in fire- and bulletproof materials after she decided those were the only contracts she'd sign with the government military and police forces. "It's just a disguise. There was no other way I could come in here."</p><p>"What about-" Toni trailed off when she realized the men in the observation room JARVIS had been keeping an eye on were knocked out cold, lying on the floor. Toni frowned before looking at her future mother. Maria was studying her intensely, as if trying to find something that might be evading her. Toni knew what she was looking for. Similarities. Skrull have the ability to copy anything with a DNA structure, to the point of having their most recent memories. No one defined the 'most recent' part. It could be anything from minutes to a year. Maria had been technologically experimented on to absorb their and Kree DNA in her own to gain their abilities. She had taken on Shuri's form. She had Shuri's most recent memories.</p><p>She knew she was Toni's mother. She knew Toni and her team were from the future. She maybe even knows what state Strange is in.</p><p>And yet she still hadn't told anyone.</p><p>"What is your angle?" Toni asked as she watched Maria sit down across from her, casual as can be, still searching for similarities. There were a lot, Toni was afraid, yet not nearly enough. She was almost completely different from her parents. She had never been more thankful for that. "Why haven't you told them what you know yet? What are you hoping to gain? Because I sincerely hope you're not stupid enough to believe I'll fold to any of your demands, requests, whatever the hell you want to call them."</p><p>"What if I don't have an angle?"</p><p>"I'd say you were lying," she replied easily, leaning heavily on her elbows onto the table top. "Blackmail isn't a new game for me, Maria. Whatever you want, you can say goodbye and good riddance because I'm not helping you."</p><p>"Has it ever occurred to you that I just wanted to speak with you?" It actually stunned Toni how sincere she sounded. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been surprised by what I found in young Shuri's memories. Only a psychopath would be indifferent to learning their future child had traveled through time to assist your target in staying alive. And despite what my records have led you to believe, I am not a psychopath. A sociopath? Perhaps. But not a psychopath. A psychopath, after all, is incapable of love and I <em>do</em> love Howard. And it would seem that love has ended up leading to you."</p><p>"Sex and being attracted to someone's peculiar qualities and characteristics do <em>not</em> equal to <em>love</em>." Toni spat at her mother, railed up by the mere idea of degrading such an amazing emotion. Toni herself wasn't an expert at love but she knew what she felt towards Stephen was it. It had taken her a long time to accept it for what it was but once she had, she had never denied it. She kept it hidden, harbored it all to herself, but never denied it.</p><p>"Yes, I believe you would know. You've felt it, after all, haven't you? You still feel it. And for Stephen Strange of all people. How interesting." She said interesting but Toni heard <em>confusing</em>, <em>unimaginable</em>, <em>frightening</em>. It takes, after all, a very special person to love someone others have told you are very close to the 'dark side'. Toni also heard <em>impossible</em> because it was clear to her Maria was indeed a sociopath, so out of touch with her own emotions that she herself wasn't sure how such a pure emotion as Toni's love for Stephen - without strings, without conditions, without <em>need</em> - could exist. Maria may claim to love Howard, but her love was born out of admiration for his drive, for his need to be the best.</p><p>"You're the first Black Widow, aren't you?"</p><p>Maria didn't even look surprised. "It's not called that yet, at least not in America, but yes. Yes I am one of the first graduates of the Lady Liberty project."</p><p>"Lady Liberty?" Toni couldn't help but ask incredulously and the shapeshifter smiled with deep irony.</p><p>"It was first called First Lady project, meant to train the best agents and assassins to become the presidents' wives in order to keep them both safe and monitored. That is how we first became aware of HYDRA. The last elections were nearly infiltrated by one of <em>their</em> spies. A First Lady found him out and assassinated him. This project is older than the war, Antonia. It has been shut down only because HYDRA found the training center and killed every last remaining student other than myself and the current President's wife."</p><p>"Do the presidents <em>know</em> who their wives are? Or do they find out only when their 'wives' are to kill them?" So the Red Room wasn't the first project training young girls to become top assassins. Her mother had been one of the first ones and had, apparently, later on helped perfect the Red Room. Definitely not something Toni was expecting to one day speak with her mother about. Her period? Boys? Sex? Sure. Super assassins and spies? Secret organizations not even SHIELD knows about? <em>Not</em>.</p><p>"Some, who are trustworthy, did. Others didn't and won't. That's how it is." The other looked rather disinterested in speaking about this. "The program might be over but that didn't mean new ones won't rise in its place. That Black Widow one sounds even more dastardly than Lady Liberty ever could." And it was. Assassins. Pure bred assassins. That's what the Red Room had created. That's what Romanoff is. "But enough about that. I have found in young Shuri's memories that Strange has done something to emotionally hurt you and your friend believes it is the worst anyone has ever done before. If that is true, then why are you here? Why help him at all? If I had been in your place, I would have finished him off right away and would have made sure we never cross paths."</p><p>"Well, you're <em>not</em> me, therefore what you would have done in my shoes doesn't matter. And thank whatever deity exists that we're not the same. Unlike you and Howard, I put the good of the world before my personal issues." It's why the Avengers could assemble to fight Thanos. Being Iron Maiden had never been about her ego. It had always been about protecting those who couldn't protect themselves.</p><p>"Why don't you ever call us <em>mother and father</em> or <em>mom and dad</em>? We're alone. No one is listening," Maria pointed out, apparently choosing to ignore Toni's dig about her and Howard's morals. "Howard would have loved that. He always wanted a daughter."</p><p>That ... actually caused Toni's brain to short-circuit. "What?" And judging from the buzz she was getting from JARVIS' and even FRIDAY's sides, they very much agreed.</p><p>"Howard has always wanted to have a daughter." Maria dutifully repeated, seemingly not phased at all by Toni's stunned continence.</p><p>"Since when!?"</p><p>Maria paused to think, a thin smile on her lips. "Since he was a teenager, I believe. Long before he met me. We have never talked about having children, <em>per se</em>, but he has stated more than once how, if he were ever blessed to be a father, he wanted a daughter. One whom he could spoil and protect from the world. I often tried to tell him it was an unrealistic dream, what with our jobs and government contracts, but he never quite let that burst his dreams. He wanted a little girl to bounce in his arms and on his knees, to buy her the cutest dresses and teach her all about his work. Nothing weapons related, mind you. He wanted her to be better, to <em>do</em> better, to outsmart him and leave him a footnote in her history of accomplishments. He wanted to show her off to the world at large and say 'This is my kid. This is my little girl and she's smarter than us all. She's the future.' Howard is too much of a dreamer to realize how dangerous that would be. I always had to think things through for the both of us."</p><p>Toni ... Toni was floored. She didn't know what to think. Her father had never given off such vibes. He'd always made it clear he wished Steve Rogers could be the son he never had. He had never let her in on his business meetings. He rarely ever let her into his lab. He had often crushed her earliest creations under his expensive shoes, not caring for the crying toddler he left for Jarvis or Maria, if she wasn't down in the bottles, to comfort. He'd even often forbidden her from leaving her room when they had important guests, as though embarrassed by her very existence. How ... <em>How</em> could he have always <em>wanted</em> her if he always looked at her like he regretted ever <em>having</em> her in the first place? She couldn't help but voice that last train of thought and watched Maria frown. Then the frown disappeared from her face and was replaced by a genuinely sad smile.</p><p>"Perhaps he just finally started listening to me."</p><p>"What do you mean?" None of this was making sense. Fuck, <em>Starkenium</em> made more sense when it still didn't physically exist than this merry mess. <em>Strange</em> made more sense and that man was all about <em>not</em> making any sense whatsoever.</p><p>"I always told Howard that I don't want to have any children because of our jobs and the number of enemies we'll make in our lives," Maria began explaining, her eyes going distant, unfocused. "Me especially. Project Lady Liberty had helped me make the greatest enemy of all already. Doctors. Paid murderers who have unsuccessfully removed my uterus and yet destroyed it beyond reproduction capabilities. I was supposed to stay sterile for the rest of my life. But then, already well into the late stages of my life but <em>still</em> the best agent around, I became part of Project Stardust. I was given mixed Kree and Skrull DNA. The Kree healing factor rejuvenated me and kept my aging almost nonexistent for about twenty years. I only recently started aging and it's still rather slow. One thing no one expected for me to regain with those healing factors were my uterus and my ability to be pregnant once again."</p><p>"And yet you still don't want a kid," said kid observed with confusion, really not sure what to think anymore. The only female counterpart of herself that she met had became sterile save for that one miracle no one knew how happened and she had gratefully and gleefully became a mother. There had been no doubt in her what she wanted. She saw it is a privilege most women take for granted.</p><p>"I don't want children because I know I'm not fit to be a mother and because I know they'll always be in danger," Maria countered, staring at Toni intently. "Howard is still idealistic, he still doesn't see how the world can take something he loves and use it against him. But judging from what you told me, he'll learn. I don't know how to be a parent but <em>he</em> would have been a spectacular father. Antonia, you might not want to believe me on this, but Howard must have loved you deeply if he pushed you away."</p><p>"That doesn't exactly follow logic."</p><p>"Think of it like this. When humans are babies, they are helpless, powerless, relying on their parents for everything, <em>especially</em> protection. I can imagine you must have often been kidnapped in your youth for being who you are." <em>Well</em>, she wasn't wrong there. Howard had never paid the ransoms. Toni had almost always gotten herself out if she was kidnapped. Still didn't see how this was supposed to convince her Howard was a great dad. "Can you imagine how it must feel for your child to be taken and used against you? And that's just from petty criminals." Toni's blood drained from her face at the thought of Peter, Harley or even Shuri in one of the situations she'd found herself in over the years. Extremis practically begged to crawl in fiery blue lines under her skin and destroy all those who would try. "Imagine if HYDRA ever got word of how much those boys meant to you. Could you get to them in time? Or would you not risk it and give in to their demands? But if HYDRA asks for weapons ... That would be dooming the rest of humanity, wouldn't it? Which choice would you make?"</p><p>When the genius couldn't answer, Maria smiled at her again. "Howard must have realized this at some point. Probably after an important discovery or after realizing how smart you are. He would try to distance himself from you, to never let on how much he cares if it would save your life. It would have to be believable, constant. <em>Real</em>. No one must suspect. No one may know it was a front. From what I know of HYDRA, it could be anywhere." SHIELD. Howard and Peggy had already created SHIELD when Toni was born. HYDRA may have infiltrated it by that point, too. Howard definitely knew before his death, her father was too much like her to remain forever oblivious. He found out and taking him out became a priority. "It probably hurt him more than it did you. Knowing that idiot, he probably had to relive his own bad childhood by acting like his alcoholic, abusive, neglectful father. That man <em>deserved</em> to be shot dead, honestly."</p><p>And maybe her mother wasn't as much of a sociopath as she believed herself to be. That glare was pure rage on Howard's part.</p><p>Maria shook it off and continued. "Point is, Howard would have been a wonderful father if his hand wasn't forced to act otherwise. I am aware that I wouldn't be a stellar mother, but I know I would have tried."</p><p>Toni hesitated, knowing she shouldn't, knowing it might change the future, but if Howard's bad parenting had a half reasonable explanation, then perhaps ... Maybe, just <em>maybe</em>, so did Maria's. "You ... You got addicted to mixing alcohol and medicine. You were addicted to a <em>lot</em> of different pills. You were practically a druggy."</p><p>"Pills like these?" Maria surprised her by extending a hand full of the exact same colorful pills Toni remembered her mother knocking back like candy. "They are painkillers, meant to dull the pain of shifting. These ones," she revealed a bottle, opening it up for Toni to see and she paled when she recognized these plain white ones, too. "These are meant to help me <em>not</em> shift. To keep control. I may have been a successful case, Antonia, but I was successful only in surviving. If I don't take these, the pain would drive me mad, either way. The amounts I take would kill a normal human, perhaps even Mr Rogers - don't look at me like that, I'm not Howard. I know that man didn't even have a full week of boot camp, let alone the time and promotion to become Captain - despite his supersoldier serum enhanced metabolism. Ever since I started aging again, the amount I need to take has increased. It's going slowly right now but perhaps it increases even more over the years? It <em>could</em> be unbearable, especially if I <em>never</em> shifted."</p><p>If Maria had shifted, Toni, ever inquisitive and curious, would have known about it. If she shifted, SHIELD/HYDRA would know about it. It would have been a risk an agent like Maria couldn't make.</p><p>Silence fell over the two women, future mother and daughter, neither knowing what else to say. Toni's foundations keep being shaken the longer she stays here. She no longer knows what to think, let alone do about it all. Life had never been simple for her but now it was a downright disaster zone. JARVIS would usually maybe try to console her but even he was shocked by this conversation and just how <em>weird</em> his creator's family was. And that's just her <em>parents</em>. Her 21st century family wasn't even being taken into account of how <em>strange</em> it all was. <em>'Strange ... Stephen,'</em> she thought wistfully, ready to get out of here when suddenly the familiar bombing alarms pierced her ears. Maria shifted back into Rogers with expert ease just seconds before one of Toni's guards burst into the room.</p><p>"We're under attack!" His fear was palpable as he stared at the 'supersoldier', panic overriding any and all military training and experience he had. Mother and daughter exchanged a look.</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>Toni felt dread welling up as she realized her pendant was starting to warm up. That was never a good sign and the soldier confirmed it.</p><p>"HYDRA."</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
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      <p><em>'JARVIS, where the </em>hell<em> is the cavalry!?'</em> Toni asked her AI as the alarm blared throughout the base. She actually feared the thing might cause a migraine if it continues for long. <em>'And what's going on?! There's no record of this base ever being under attack!'</em></p>
      <p>-Sir, KAREN reports that Mr Parker and Doctor Strange are on their way in. Princess Shuri and Mr Keener have taken to the air to shield the base.- Her AI paused, sounding uncomfortable. -It appears to have been an inside job. HYDRA has infiltrated SSR and their location has been revealed. I am tracing any forms of communication as we speak, Sir. I suggest immediate evacuation.-</p>
      <p><em>'Damn it,'</em> Toni snarled to herself before reaching out to EDITH and JOCASTA so she could speak with Harley and Shuri. <em>'Harl, EDITH's cloaking technology can cover wast amounts of space.'</em></p>
      <p><em>"Oh my god, Toni, you're okay!"</em> She winced at the volume of his voice but didn't have the time to reprimand him.</p>
      <p>
        <em>'I'm fine. Use EDITH to hide the base from the air. The planes don't have the tech to keep track of anything on the ground. Pilots have to rely on their own aim to get anything done. Cloak yourself as well. Shuri, I trust you're more than capable of watching his back?'</em>
      </p>
      <p><em>"Consider it done."</em> Toni almost smiled at the Princess' resolute answer. Shuri was, at times, far better as a teammate than T'Challa. She was smarter, for one, and far less heroically suicidal for another. She helped Toni keep the boys - and occasionally herself - out of trouble. This was probably the most balanced team Toni had been a part of. At least in <em>this</em> version of reality.</p>
      <p>
        <em>"We're on it. Just get out of there, Toni. Peter and Strange should be there soon enough to pick you up."</em>
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      <p><em>'You be careful,'</em> she sent before addressing FRIDAY. <em>'Baby girl, we're leaving. Pack up my gun and be ready for a hit and run.'</em></p>
      <p>-Already on it. I'll see you soon, Boss.-</p>
      <p>Toni startled when she found her hands suddenly free, staring up incredulously at her mother-disguised-as-Rogers as Maria grabbed a hold of her wrist and started dragging her out of the door. "Battle stations, soldier. I'll be securing the prisoner personally." The man snapped into an automatic salute and let them pass, his partner, left waiting outside, mimicking him as he saw the two women out. Maria kept the guise for several hallways before shifting into one of the guards, her hold going from Toni's hand to a cop grip on her elbow, taking on the air of someone leading a prisoner with the same ease Toni slipped into her arrogant persona way back when. "Forgive me, but you must trust me on this." Toni was about to ask her what she meant when she felt a gun being pressed against her shoulder, looking pointed at her head but Toni could tell that, even if it fired, it'd only graze her skin. She tensed but a scan from JARVIS from within the Arc Reactor assured her that the safety was still on. This was a show, a show they both must put up if Maria was to successfully lead Toni out of the base while they had this distraction. That is, if Toni was reading this right.</p>
      <p>Which, as it turned out, she <em>was</em>, given Maria was dragging her down a hallway ultimately leading to secret entrance/exit that Toni only knew about because FRIDAY had already found all the building blueprints of the base. With Maria's guise and the pretense they were putting up, no one tried to stop them or even gave them a second glance. Though given there was an emergency going on since HYDRA planes were spotted, it wasn't even surprising. Still, this was extremely good fortune. The genius couldn't help but wonder if maybe Strange was doing the same trick he'd done to evacuate more than half of Sokovia's population before Ultron could screw up the city with his plans, later repeated by the Scarlet Witch on a much smaller scale. He was still a doctor. Toni knew he hated needlessly lost lives, no matter <em>whose</em> they might be. She wouldn't be surprised. A feat like this required more concentration than power on Strange's side. He'd be more sleepy because of mental strain than exhaustion at the power he spent. Toni had misinterpreted that when she had first seen him do it. He'd only later explained his need for a nap.</p>
      <p>"Do you need anything before you get out of here?" The youngest Stark blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, when she heard Maria's question, focusing on her as her mother spoke. "A weapon? Ammunition? A map? A compass? A vehicle? <em>Anything</em> at all? <em>Your</em> gun? It's in Howard's lab, which is thankfully along the way we're taking. I always insist that he's stationed somewhere from where I can easily evacuate him should something like this happen. He thinks I'm paranoid but indulges me."</p>
      <p>Okay, <em>wow</em>. Toni would have never thought <em>Howard</em> would be the <em>Pepper</em> in her parents' relationship. At least where things like this were concerned. Pepper always used to say Toni was just paranoid when she said the world was conspiring against them - not literally but you get the point. In every other aspect, Maria no doubt covered Pepper's position in their marriage while Toni and Howard were the manic genius inventor in the relationship/friendship. Toni still hadn't seen Howard and Pepper being alike in <em>any</em> aspect. So just ... <em>wow</em>.</p>
      <p>Still, this was not the time to dwell on that. There were far more important matters to attend to. "My gun." She didn't need anything else and she didn't need to tell Maria that. She just nodded and pulled her out of the main hallway and straight into the research division, banging open a door and startling Howard out of an experiment that seems to have been holding all of his attention, completely deaf to the alarms. He jumped and the gadget he was working on fell out of his hands, shattering against the floor upon impact. He cursed under his breath, ran a hand through his hair before turning a tremendous scowl at whoever interrupted him, only for it to disappear in a matter of seconds.</p>
      <p>"Maria? Why did you bring Antonia here? What's going on? And <em>what</em> is that infernal noise!? It's loud enough to be heard all the way out on the front!" How Howard could immediately see through the disguise, Toni didn't know, but it must be a normal occurrence as Maria didn't seem surprised. She just rolled her eyes and took away the gun. Toni instantly relaxed when the weapon was put away, watching in sick, perverse, helpless fascination as her parents interacted like Toni had never seen them before. How had they became the people who couldn't stand to sit down for a single meal together when Toni could now see the clear affection they had for each other, no matter their initial origins? They were almost disgustingly sweet and sappy as Toni and Stephen were! And she had been told by several sources they were diabetes levels of sickeningly sweet!</p>
      <p>"HYDRA bomb planes were spotted. It's the warning alarm, Howard. The one meant to rouse everyone and <em>warn</em> them of an attack like this. Remember? We <em>talked</em> about this!" How had her father survived long enough for Toni to be born again? "Never mind. Antonia needs to get out of here and she wants her gun back."</p>
      <p>Howard actually looked like a kicked puppy at that. "But I still haven't gotten the chance to figure it out! This technology is a thing of <em>beauty</em>, Maria! Can't I keep it a little bit longer?"</p>
      <p>"No," both women stated resolutely, taking up the identical female-disapproving-of-a-man's-stupid-actions stance, which looked extremely funny in Maria's current disguise, to which Howard only pouted but didn't argue further, reaching into the locked vault to get the nanites weapon.</p>
      <p>-I'm already here, Boss.- Toni sighed in relief when FRIDAY pinged her, already having integrated herself with the gun. The good thing about nanobots was that they were seriously small, like microscopic small, yet still had top of the line processors, which allowed FRIDAY to simply disperse any solid form they created and like miniature fluid get into places too small for any other spy - than perhaps Ant Man and the Wasp - could get in to. Had Toni not arrived when she had, FRIDAY would have probably exited the safe the same way she had entered it, leaving no traces of future technology in Howard's hands or the past.</p>
      <p><em>"The holograms seem to be working,"</em> Harley reported over the comms, making Toni sigh in relief. Okay, timeline not screwed. Yey. <em>"The planes are circling, trying to get a visual, but EDITH says she can hear them yelling at each other how this is a waste of time due to faulty information."</em> Which was good news. <em>Extremely </em>good news. The location will be logged in official reports as a dud, keeping the base secure from future such ventures.</p>
      <p><em>"They're saying they'll do one more lap and then head back,"</em> Shuri informed her but there was an edge to her voice that put Toni on edge. <em>"HYDRA might be backing off but the SSR ground forces look ready to try shooting them down. I think I can see Rogers getting ready to try and actually jump or get catapulted onto one of the planes. Or maybe grab one of their own."</em></p>
      <p>That was not good. But there was nothing Toni could do without revealing herself or risking changing the timeline. So she turned to her companions, taking the gun from Howard and thanking him before getting straight down to business. "You have a spy in your midst, something you need to look into. But right now you need to stop those idiots from shooting at the HYDRA planes. I can't explain why or how, but your base's location is still secure and finding the spy is your priority. If you shoot them down, then HYDRA's sure to come after you."</p>
      <p>"What-?" Howard, out of the loop, tried to ask but Maria understood the urgency in Toni's voice, well hidden as it might be - <em>she </em>would be a far better profiler than Romanov could <em>ever </em>hope to be - and she nodded, giving Howard the brisk instructions to "Get her out of here unnoticed," before she was out of the door, shifting forms into General Philips and shouting orders left and right not to shoot and actually reveal their base to the enemy. As everyone scrambled to follow her orders, no one noticed how fast the 'man' was moving, which only made Toni wonder how this group of people had been so essential in ending the WWII. Behind her, Howard sighed dreamily before smiling in a friendly manner at Toni and motioning for her to follow him, apparently trusting 'his dame' not to lead him wrong. She was learning all sorts of new things about her parents these days, it would seem. Talk about <em>strange</em>. "Come on. While everyone is still distracted and Maria messes with them."</p>
      <p>The rest of the way, short as it was, was spent in awkward - on Toni's part - chitchat as Howard tried to get her to relax, complimenting her work and admiring her genius. She grew suspicious and nearly knocked him out when he started talking about kids and daughter and how he wished he could have a daughter who could outsmart him like 'Antonia' did, only to relax when she realized Howard really <em>was </em>that oblivious and idealistically in love with the idea of having a little girl to spoil. By the time they got to the exit, Toni was too morbidly fascinated by this younger version of her father to want to leave, even though she knew it was crucial. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to see if there were any indicators as to why she could have never gotten him, why she had never met him as he was now but as a bitter, cold, neglectful man who seemingly didn't give two fucks about her.</p>
      <p><em>"What is, and always will be, my greatest creation ... is </em>you<em>."</em> And yet, she remembered the tender look in his eyes when he said that in the only remaining evidence of his love for her and she only now understood its true depths. It was just unfair that they were always separated by a good twenty years or more, when they have these tender 'conversations'. Toni wished, just once, to hear it come directly form her father and for him to be looking at <em>her</em> when he said it.</p>
      <p>"Here we are," the man said, breaking her out of her melancholic thoughts and bringing her back to the present or, well, the past but ... You know what, it's really confusing so she just let it go. It's only a turn of phrase, anyway, so whatever. Time was relative, even if the Time Stone resting on her hand wasn't. The point was, Toni was now at the end of this line, expected to say goodbye to her father without getting any proof if what either of her parents were saying was true.</p>
      <p>She had a serious conflict on her hands. On one hand, she had learned neither of her parents were as she had at first thought them to be. Toni had always known they had a dark side, everyone did (<em>"I don't trust a guy who doesn't have a dark side."</em>). She had simply never thought that they would have been ready to possibly destroy a man's life to get what they want. Maria ... Maria obviously didn't know the first thing about right and wrong. It had probably been beaten out of her a long time ago and she has been around long enough to see that the world was far from being black and white, something Rogers couldn't see even after waking up and spending several years in the 21st century. But Howard was her referencing point and where he went, she would follow. And Howard Stark will do both terrible and wondrous things in his life, things that will hail him as a warmonger as well as a hero.</p>
      <p>But the one good thing Howard and Maria Stark did for the world that balanced the red in their ledger was gifting Toni Stark to the world. Their only daughter, their only child, the only heir to their legacy and they would make sure she would <em>never</em> follow in their original footprints.</p>
      <p>For that, Toni was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.</p>
      <p>She grabbed her father's hand, cutting off his rambling as she turned him to face her and any question he might have had at the sudden gesture trailed off when he saw the serious look in brown orbs almost identical to his own, only capable of infinitely more kindness, compassion and empathy. Toni now knew Howard had tried his best but she also realized there must have been a lot he was struggling against. Civilian, like herself, throwing himself into the war zone because no one else would dare fly over the really dangerous spots. She admired him for that. She could see where her drive to protect came from. But she wasn't capable of the selfishness Howard was, she couldn't put her or her family's needs above the world. No matter how painful the loss. If the world perish, it would all be futile. She could never allow that to be her legacy.</p>
      <p>"This technology, when you figure it out, and you <em>will</em> ... It's <em>not</em> to be used as a weapon. Can you promise me that? You keep it guarded close to your chest and you leave its secrets only to someone you can trust won't misuse it. Because, believe it or not, your daughter's life might depend on it one day and this will be her only salvation." And she knew Howard could see it all in her eyes. She knew he would understand.</p>
      <p>That will have to be enough.</p>
      <p>With that, Toni walked past her stunned future father and charged through the door before the man could gather his wits, quickly walking away from the base, hand itching to be enclosed in a repuslor gauntlet. The Time Stone suddenly pulsed an almost excited wave of energy through her and Toni shuddered as, seconds later, Strange appeared in front of her through a dimensional rift completely different from the portals he usually used. It was far more subtle, as only a shimmer in the air indicated something was amiss, which she guessed served its purpose far better in this situation than had he opened a sparkling portal for all to see. Strange looked her over, his frown disappearing when he saw she was not harmed before he extended an inviting had for her like the true gentleman that he was. Toni felt relief as she took it and he started tugging her through their way of magical transport.</p>
      <p>The Soul Stone alerted her that Howard was still there, gawking after her, only Maria had reappeared and was now actually in her own form. Toni took one last glance at them when she heard Howard panickingly screech at Maria "What did you mean by <em>my daughter</em>!?", smiled and let Stephen pull her through, leaving the base still blaring its alarms.</p>
      <p>There was still plenty more to do before she can go home, after all.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>"Oh my god, will you guys just <em>chill</em> already? I'm <em>fine</em>!" Toni spoke with great exasperation, glaring petulantly at the teens fussing, fretting and panicking over her and her - forced even if she had allowed it - short stay with the SSR at their base. It's already been two hours since they all met up again in the, once again financed by Strange, hotel room in London where they have been staying ever since they learned that the shifters were here. Now Maria might end up being a half-decent <em>maybe</em> good guy and they had the Skrull Stephen had been searching for hidden in the walk in closet and they were wasting time instead of questioning him - they guessed it was a him, anyway, given the alien didn't have any traces of boobs, <em>not</em> that <em>that</em> was a correct reference to gender in all species. Rogers had bigger boobs than most women Toni knew.</p><p>"You were <em>kidnapped</em>! <em>Again</em>!" Harley snapped, the only one who dared raise his voice against her since Peter was timid and Shuri considered it wasn't her place. Harley, though, was too much like Toni and had no shame and no restraints in yelling his lungs out at her, much to Toni's pride and annoyance. That alarm was still ringing in her ears and she might just be a bit malnourished. Well, for someone who carried Extremis and should eat a lot more calories than she usually does. Her headache was really threatening to become a hindrance and Toni would prefer to finish this mission without it clouding her judgement, thank you. Didn't mean Harley, long lost in his hysterics, was willing to help her with that endeavor.</p><p>Kid could put Pepper's performance during Vanko's attack to shame.</p><p>"I was <em>fine</em> and am <em>still</em> perfectly <em>fine</em>! They didn't do anything to me and then they were terrified of me when I accidentally lost my temper and showed them I could beat the shit out of Rogers! Can you please <em>calm down</em>?"</p><p>"Calm down!? <em>Calm down</em>!? How the fuck can I <em>calm down</em>!? They could have killed you! Tortured you! I already know how good you are at hiding that stuff! They could have caused a panic attack! You could have suffocated at their feet and they wouldn't know how to help you!"</p><p>Toni knew she shouldn't be yelling, that Harley was just worried about loosing the only real mother figure he had ever known, but she was stressed too, okay? This hasn't been an easy month on <em>anyone</em>, but <em>she</em> was the one constantly being bombed by new, surprising, terrifying or contradicting information about her parents! Everything she thought she knew had been shaken several times over, so much so that Toni no longer knew what was up and what was down, let alone what was true or false! And Harley wasn't helping any at the moment, the complete opposite of what his presence usually meant. They all just needed a break.</p><p>"I had JARVIS and FRIDAY! I had the suit! As long as I have the suit, I can deal with whatever bullshit gets thrown my way! And I have <em>Extremis</em>! I can fucking take care of myself! I'm a grown ass woman, for crying out loud! I can handle my parents!"</p><p>"That's what worries me!" That exclamation drew Toni to a stop and she watched as Harley flinched and drew in on himself, as though in shame. Which made <em>no sense</em> whatsoever. The shame part, anyway. His comment, though ... Out of everyone, except maybe Stephen and her AIs (and the Cloak. Can't forget the Cloak), Harley knew the state of her mind the best. One of their earliest interactions was Harley trying to calm her down from a panic attack caused by the recollection of New York. Not even Rhodey, Pepper or Happy knew the extent of her panic attacks, JARVIS most often being the one to deal with them. That hadn't changed since New York. Up to this day, only her AIs, Harley Keener and Stephen Strange ever witnessed a full blown panic attack from one Toni Stark. As such, Toni could understand. Harley knew she had some self-worth issues, even now, even when she had Strange to constantly sing her praises and adoration. And he knew how controversial her feelings towards her parents were. He must have been worrying this whole time that Toni had gone and ... <em>made certain</em> she won't be born. So she can never live through the harsh life the universe had thrown at her, so she can never face the looming reality of being an immortal being who watches the universe she was ready to die for die in front of her very eyes. "I feared ... I couldn't bear the thought ... That ... That you'd disappear when we go back. That it would be like you never existed. You're ... You're like my <em>mother</em>, Toni. I ... I don't want to loose you, too."</p><p>Toni sighed softly as she saw tears sliding down Harley's face and opened up her arms to the usually strong boy, letting him know it was okay to be weak. Harley didn't hesitate to join her on the big couch, snuggling into her embrace and crying into her shoulder, letting go of the fear, uncertainty and stress that has been piling up on them all since they got here. Toni let him cry, shushing his sobs and murmuring reassurances to the first kid she'd low-key, accidentally adopted, carding her fingers through his curly hair and holding him close like she remembered made her feel safe when she had allowed herself to feel weak. The boy clung to her and she let him, knowing he needed this. "I'm not going anywhere, kid. I'm the Mechanic. What would the world do without me, am I right? Besides, I may be a douchebag but I'm not a complete <em>dick</em>. I promise never to take my own life, in <em>any</em> way."</p><p>And that just caused him to cry harder. Maybe out of relief at the reassurance. Maybe just because he was exhausted. Both was probable at this point and completely reasonable.</p><p>Stark wasn't even surprised, not one bit, when Peter hesitantly approached, first just sitting beside her before he leaned against her side, too, hiding his face in her shoulder. He started shaking a little, subtle but present, doing his best to remain quiet. It was probably all adding up for him, too, especially since the kids had found her passed out on her floor just the morning before this insanity began. What were they supposed to think at this point? Nothing made sense anymore. Everything was messed up and emotions were all over the place. Harley only snapped first because, to him, it no doubt felt like it had all been piling up on his shoulders. He may be the youngest, only now to turn 17 to Shuri's 17 and Peter's 18, but he was the first 'stark kid'. He had seen most of Toni's journey in person, at least far more than Peter and Shuri. They were connected. He probably identified with Toni's pain on a far more personal level, something Toni would never want for any kid, especially not one she considered her own.</p><p>And now even Peter was reliving his trauma from loosing his parents and his uncle at a young age while fearing for Strange's condition and now the possibility Toni might try to prevent her own birth. A quick glance at Shuri showed that even the Princess had trouble keeping a straight face, no doubt thinking about the untimely death of her gentle and caring father, so Toni waved her over as well, inviting her to the pile forming on her. Thank heavens for Extremis, otherwise she'd be crushed under their weight.</p><p>What a mess they must be, Toni mused, trying not to think about how much she wanted to talk to her own parents - the ones that gave birth to her, not their past selves - to hear her beloved butler's voice again. This was supposed to be a simple - if dangerous - mission and yet it has been becoming more and more complicated by the second and none of them could do anything about it. The billionaire sighed, resting her head against the back of the couch as the teens all seemed to have dozed off on her. She didn't mind. Their presence forcefully kept any possible incoming panic attacks at bay since she never wanted to expose that side of herself to them. She was their mentor - yes, even to the brilliant Shuri from her super advanced home country - and they all even saw her as some kind of family. Toni wanted to protect them, to always be strong for them, for them to know she <em>can</em> and <em>will</em> be, that they can always come to her should they have something that's eating at them. They were her anchor even when the healthiest solution to her building reaction to everything would be to just let it all go.</p><p>Letting go ... She had never been good with that, had she? Twenty years have passed since her parents' and their butler's deaths and yet she has yet to let go. She made the Maria Stark Foundation, she built an Arc Reactor according to her father's plans, she created the world's greatest AI and gave him JARVIS' voice. She could never let go of Yinsen's death, couldn't <em>allow</em> herself to. If she did, would she go back to being the arrogant woman she had been? One who was content to let others make decisions for her, even when she hated every single one? One who was content to ignore the lives her weapons, legally or illegally bought, took and destroyed, the families they left mourning in their wake? She'll never forget the soldiers who had died for her in Afghanistan.</p><p>Would she ever be let go of Stephen's death? Or would it be one tragedy too much? Toni knows she can be quite impulsive, especially when someone hurts one of her loved ones ...</p><p>"Are you alright?" She almost jumps out of her skin when the worried, familiar voice snaps her out of her thoughts, the rest of the room finally registering again. Toni finds herself face to face, eyes to eye, with a concerned Stephen hovering over her, a hand hesitantly reaching out to her, as if to comfort her. She can't believe she had zoned out like that, especially given the company she had. You'd think she'd be on extra high alert with the teens all relying on her to watch over them in their vulnerable states. Not that she'd be able to do anything with Harley hugging her around the waist, trapping her legs with his body - which was now taller than her, <em>screw</em> the kid - Peter and Shuri barricading her from the sides by using her as a pillow. Peter had her shirt in a slack but deceptively strong grip while the Princess had actually looped an arm around her's. If Toni were to do anything about a possible attack - not that she'd be aware of it before Peter's spidey senses could sense the danger and wake him up - she'd have to shake them off her, which was sure to wake them up. Still, that she had drifted off like that ... That she hadn't registered someone coming in ...</p><p>But Strange wasn't a random <em>someone</em>. Between last month and the year the kids had known him - and the <em>years</em> Toni had known him - they were all familiar with him enough that they'd never see him as a threat, no matter how big of one he could be. But he was Stephen and Toni knew, even for this past version of him, that he'd never hurt her or someone she cares about.</p><p>She looks into his green eyes and feels herself relax, which wasn't fair, but whatever. It was the reaction she had been having since sometime after the palladium poisoning debacle. "Fine. We just had a ... very emotional moment. We're good, now. How goes things with Mr Space Elf?"</p><p>Strange snorted at her nickname for the Skrull as he sat down into thin air and just levitated in front of her, massaging his head. "Still not talking, though I know now for sure that his presence here actually has little to do with SSR and their own shapeshifter."</p><p>"Then what?" Stephen paused, considering, before he answered.</p><p>"A power source of some sort. I think they might mean the Tesseract. It's a cube-shaped container-"</p><p>"For an Infinity Stone, yeah I know." Toni cut him off, dragging a hand through her hair with a grimace of frustration. She ignored Stephen's not even slightly surprised expression - he has learned by now that his new companions know things they had no place knowing and he was aware they'll never explain how or why - as she continued with her train of thought. "He's probably trying to stick around until they find it or get it from HYDRA so he can make off with it. The Skrull do need an engine that can take them as fr and fast away from the Kree as possible if they want to keep avoiding this one sided war. We'll have to boot him off the planet so he can't interfere. The Tesseract has to stay on Earth or else things will go all screwy- Why are you looking at me like that?"</p><p>Strange had a very strange expression on his face, a peculiar light in his eyes as he regarded her. It wasn't uncommon for him to regard her in a special way. It was practically the rule, never an exception. But this was different. Something has changed. He was looking at her as though some things made sense and others were falling into place regarding her rambling, which <em>was </em>unusual, at least in this time, when they were still practically strangers. He hadn't acted this way just the day before, which meant the change took place sometime after Toni allowed herself to get kidnapped. She wasn't sure what exactly could cause Stephen to look at her in this new light, but it sent warning bells through her brain.</p><p>To Strange, since they met on January 2nd, Toni was a mysterious beautiful woman who had some sort of grudge against him that seemed to be dissipating as they spent more time together and had a peculiar interaction with one Howard Stark. She confused him. He couldn't explain most of her actions and reactions or the things she did, the why and the how behind them. He may be accepting her general answer to all things he didn't understand how she did as her being an "enhanced individual" but he didn't exactly take that at face value. She knows he tried to research them but that he, naturally, came up empty. Stephen might have accepted that he'll never really understand them, know where they came from or who they actually are, but that doesn't mean he had stopped trying to figure it all out.</p><p>This new ... <em>sort of</em> understanding meant that he had learned something that he hadn't known before, something that made sense and allowed him to better understand some of the internal interactions of the quartet he had befriended. Something that might have been leaked or outright revealed in her absence. Something that would have stopped the overprotective, invincible, unstoppable, powerful Sorcerer Supreme form simply storming the base and damning the consequences. Something that involved their presence here. Something that, no matter how seemingly impossible, was possible. Something that allowed him to understand Toni better.</p><p>Toni Stark didn't need to be a certified genius to figure out what that something might be.</p><p>"Peter told you, didn't he." It wasn't even a question. It didn't have to be. With how high-strung they all were upon her return, she could only guess how things had been while she was still held captive and it was up to them to get her back. Even with a link between the AIs, it had to have been traumatic and stressful beyond belief. She was seeing the results even as the kids slumbered against her. In her absence, it would have been up to them to keep the mission going and keep Strange in the dark, something which was a lot harder than Toni made it seem. Not to mention that it was now up to them to update Wong, Mater Hamir and Christine about the situation. As though their fear of offing herself by stopping her parents from ever giving birth to her wasn't enough, they had to deal with Strange's deteriorating state back home.</p><p>She wouldn't be surprised if one of them cracked and revealed just who they are and maybe even why they were here. Toni wouldn't blame them. Didn't blame them. Above all else, keeping the timeline unchanged is their priority. Messing with past events would only endanger the future. Saving Stephen might be their goal, but it couldn't come at the price of the balance of the multiverse. Loosing the Sorcerer Supreme, especially at a time like back home where there was a possible new threat rising from Strange's own power, was not ideal but one Tony Stark had managed to take up the mantle in his absence before. Who is to say another couldn't do the same? Toni didn't like it but she already knew she'd be the only other candidate powerful enough to replace Strange. Protecting the Earth is what she has made out her life mission to be after, well, <em>everything</em>. She would never allow for Clea to get away with whatever plans she has after getting the power that she wants.</p><p>She would never allow for Strange's death to be meaningless. She was an Avenger. She would avenge him.</p><p>But, that aside, she was really hoping for this mission to be successful, so Peter better not have spilled <em>all </em>the beans.</p><p>"Shuri, actually," replied the former doctor. And that was surprising.</p><p>Shuri? <em>Well</em> ...</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>As expected from Shuri, she had revealed only the most necessary details of their presence and origins, leaving out the fact that Strange was dying because of a (former?) lover's spite and trickery, managing the knowledge he receives like a professional PR worker and ensuring the timeline stays unchanged. Strange still has no idea that the 'friend' that's about to get in trouble is him, though some of Toni's original distaste for him is apparently starting to make sense.</p><p>Not really, since not even the kids - besides Shuri, partially - know why Toni was acting towards him the way she sometimes did, but he at least understood it was something he had done after they met at some other point in time that he hasn't yet experienced. The technology they wield also is making sense now but the Infinity Stones on Toni's hands aren't and no one was explaining that one, much to his obvious displeasure. Still, him knowing was actually making things, like, a ton easier to get done now that they didn't have to cover some of their knowledge and abilities up in front of him. Stephen has no need for additional money so they don't have to worry about him ever trying to use his photographic memory and change the world around him to get rich after they eventually leave.</p><p>The beauty of no longer having to find reasonable explanations for knowing that there will be a ball in Bern on February 1st and that several SSR members will be present makes things much easier to get done. Strange doesn't question it and just opens a portal near where the ball will be taking place, rents them the best hotel room in the nearest hotel and acquires them entrance to the event. He no longer questions where their fancier clothes comes from after seeing all the things that their nanites can form. He just accepts it, collects his favor from who knows when and escorts them into the big, shinning ballroom, staying close to Toni as they examine the room and those who have filled it while the teens spread out to see where their 'enemies' might be.</p><p>The reason Toni insisted they go to the event at all was because Wong and Master Hamir have found a record stating that Strange has returned from the event to Kamar-Taj with Clea on his arm. The two don't come into contact for the rest of the year and a good part of the next one after that. This is the last window of opportunity that the demon woman was going to get. Tonight is the night that makes or breaks the mission. If they allow Strange to leave with Clea tonight, then Strange was as good as dead. They won't get a better opportunity. Toni is still surprised that things were going so smoothly so far. Things complicated like this usually get messed up real easy. Toni would know. It's the story of her life, after all.</p><p>So here she was, sipping on champagne next to Stephen, dressed to the nines in a dress almost identical as the one she wore for their first date, the only difference being that she had covered her clevege in exchange for exposing her back and she wore red gloves meant to mask the Gauntlets' presence on her hands. She had let her hair down for once since coming to the past, gently curved locks hugging her face and descending down to her middle back. Her lips were blood red and she had modest eye make-up, but it was clear she had caught quite a bit of attention just by standing there, all new but so at ease at such an event in this high class society. This might be her first 1945 banquet but she has been to enough of those back in her timeline that she was probably the most seasoned player here, besides Strange and his sheer age. She'd caught more than one man looking her up and down, contemplating coming over before deciding they didn't want to face whatever verbal abuse the doctor at her side would grace them with. Strange still wasn't sure why exactly they were attending this party beyond that Toni got a time, a date and a place over the communication device usually only she managed. The only thing he knew about tonight was that it was one of the most important in his new friends' mission and that it might be the precipe of either failure or success. Either way, they all knew it was an important night and Stephen was doing his job of making sure no one distracts her <em>splendidly</em>.</p><p>Even as she, JARVIS and FRIDAY scanned the crowd of faces for anyone with the <em>slightest</em> resemblance to Clea, Toni couldn't help but steal a glance at the man beside her every now and then. In a twist of ironic fate or something like it, Strange was dressed in the same black assembly he wore for their first date, too. The only thing missing was the Eye of Agamotto, which Toni knew to only be masked in invisibility but was still in its rightful place around Strange's neck. The Time Stone whispered of wanting to be there almost as much as it was content of being on her hand. The Infinity Stones had their own version of sentience, that much Toni knew, and she didn't really blame the Time Stone for liking Strange. She liked him, too, after all. Still, it wasn't fair for Strange to stand there all handsome and proud and dignified, acting like how the Stephen she had gotten to know usually did when they went to things like this together. Even before they started dating, Stephen had been her filter of wanted and needed or unwanted/needed human interaction at events like this one. He, too, was scanning the crowd, probably looking for anyone they knew to be associated with SSR. Toni wondered if Maria will be here and shook her head, trying not to dwell on it or to be disappointed when no traces of her peculiar biosignature didn't appear on her scanners.</p><p>She looked up when Stephen stiffened beside her, looking to him in confusion when a frown graced his features before they, once again, became neutrally blank. He saw Toni looking at him and graced her with a tight smile. "Please excuse me for a moment, Toni. It seems I have some ... extradimensional business to settle. Visitors that shouldn't be and all." And he disappeared before Toni could say anything to that, the crowd jumping to part way for the man marching through them with quick, long, elegant stride like Moises commanding and parting the Red Sea.</p><p>"I must say, he <em>is</em> quite something. You sure do have good taste, dear." Toni whirled around with a repulsor to the face of the speaker, only to reluctantly relax when she saw Maria there, her only disguise being that she had shifted her hair into a dark red color and made her eyes almost gray. Her mother was smiling at her with a teasing twinkle in her eyes and it finally registered to the genius what was said, making the embarrassed blush inevitable.</p><p>"<em>Mom</em>!" The teenage reaction was impossible to suppress and she almost groaned when she saw the teasing smile become an incredulous expression before it turned into a beam of pride and joy. The one and only Iron Maiden was almost blinded by it, stunned that such a simple word from her could cause that much delight in her mother. Then again, she still remembered the mother who couldn't be bothered by her daughter's existence and all the new information about why such behavior might have existed at all still hasn't quite sunk in yet. She wasn't used to such positive feedback from her parents. Howard's ramblings about his hypothetical future daughter still left her dizzy. Who would have thought a little praise would be enough to uproot the unflappable Toni Stark!</p><p>"Oh, hush! I obviously won't get the chance to do this after you're actually born so I'll do it now while I still can. It is, after all, a mother's duty to embarrass her child," Maria stated matter of factly and Toni could just stare at her, utterly flabbergast such a declaration. This had to be a dream. Toni had suspected as much since she saw Stephen with Clea but this was just too surreal. She must have knocked herself out or one of her AIs did and now she was dreaming up the most bizarre things. That was the only explanation that would keep her sane. She'll wake up any second now with Stephen holding her in either his bed at Kamar-Taj or hers at the Tower and she'll tell him all about it and they'd laugh at the insanity of it all. Otherwise, this was real and her mother really <em>was</em> checking out Stephen's ass when his trench coat swished to the side enough to reveal it. And that was possibly more traumatic than Afghanistan! Or <em>Thanos</em>! "You really do know how to pick them. Nothing but the best for my daughter. Just like your mother. Howard was the best so I turned away everyone else. Looks like I chose right."</p><p>Toni, in turn, chose to ignore that, faking a laugh and dragging the other woman closer by the elbow. "What the hell are you doing here and who else do I have to look out for? This is a very important mission and I can't afford to be blindsided or waylaid!"</p><p>Maria, thankfully, decided to be forthcoming with the information, so unlike how a spy should act. Then again, until a couple of days ago, she didn't have what now appeared to be a glaring weakness in wishing to, at least temporarily, be the mother for Toni that she never could. Toni wasn't sure if Maria would genuinely act like this or if she was falling back on her observations of other, 'normal' families and mimicking what those mothers did in order to achieve this new little goal of hers. Either way, Toni couldn't help but be grateful for the effort put into it. It worked great in assuring her Maria might not have been a horrible person after all. Mother was still up for debate. "Just me, Howard, Mr Rogers, Sargent Barnes and Agent Carter." Which was already a lot but she could understand the need for them. Howard had the influence to get them in, Maria and Peggy would gather all the necessary information and the Dumb and Dumber (James and Rogers respectively) were there in case things went south. "We're looking into the information you gave us. Howard and I want to believe you - we do, after all, have all the reason to - at face value but Philips and Carter want to double check it, so here we are. From what I've heard, there is indeed a HYDRA base not even that far from here. About ten miles West-South-West from the edges of the city. As soon as Carter is satisfied, we'll be leaving. Until then, if you need assistance, I will gladly oblige."</p><p>Toni hesitated, debating the wisdom of involving her parents in all of this but she knew it would be by far easier to get things done if Maria could make rounds for her unnoticed. Hell, she could find Strange and pretend to be Toni and distract him while Toni gets Clea out of the picture. Getting rid of her permanently would be dangerous to the timeline but surely there was something Toni could do to get her to back off. She just needs to get whatever spell is meant to compromise the Eye of Agamotto out of her hands and Clea wouldn't be able to safely preform the spell. There was, after all, no other safe way to store and consume the power Strange possessed. Not even the Infinity Stones could utilize his power, not in the way Clea wants.</p><p>Tonight was it. The endgame, for the lack of a better term. What they did now will shape what will happen to the future. The Time Stone will make sure of it. That was why they risked using it instead of building a time machine like the Tony Stark that had died did. They didn't want to go into one of the possible alternative timelines. They wanted to go back into their own and change a single event, not just take something and put it back in the exact same moment from which it has been taken from. The Time Stone will integrate the change without destroying the river of time.</p><p>Hopefully, what she did, the risk she takes, now won't be futile. "Clea is here tonight. She's going to try and bind Strange in a magical contract that will one day in the future drain him of all of his power and energy, which will leave him practically dead. She wants to take his place in the multiverse and no one knows what she plans to do with it. All we know is that we can't let this happen. Please," Toni found herself saying before she even realized it, startling herself. "Please help me find her and prevent her from hurting him. I ... I don't want to lose him."</p><p>"Even though he has hurt you?" Maria questioned, looking at her considerately. "I don't know what he did but your young friend sure did contemplate a lot of it. I won't draw conclusions on my own without knowing all the facts, but scorned women aren't usually too keen on helping those who've scorned them."</p><p>But the younger(?) woman could only shake her head. What happened between Stephen, Clea and her was their business, something she may or may not discuss with him once she goes back and he recovers enough. She won't involve her mother into it. "What happened between us doesn't matter. It's not more important than the safety of our reality and the multiverse at large. We'll deal with it by ourselves and resolve as to how we go about it when everything is done and no one is hurt."</p><p>Maria didn't seem overall happy with that but she agreed to help none the less. "You can count on me. What should I do if I find them?"</p><p>"Call Strange away. Keep them separated or stick to them like glue. I don't care. As long as they don't have a chance to be alone and do whatever they did to seal the deal, we're good. And don't let them leave together at <em>any</em> cost. Cause an incident, if you have to. Pretend to be me and that you're in trouble. That should keep him here."</p><p>"Only one problem," the shapeshifter said, making Toni frown in worry and confusion. "I can't take on your form."</p><p>"What? But Skrulls can take on anyone's form as long as they possess a DNA structure!" Toni had asked Carol countless questions about her shapeshifting allies as well as the Kree. She was sure she knew both sides of that war fairly well, considering she was an Earthling who had never met them in person before befriending Captain Marvel.</p><p>"Yes, well, you're an exception. I can turn into Rogers, supersoldier serum and all, but not you. Something is protecting you." Toni's hand immediately went to the pendant hanging around her neck, masked by the 'material' of her 'dress'. Knowing Clea will be here tonight had Toni wearing the pendant like she usually would back home instead of hiding it in inconvenient ways from Stephen like she had been doing so far. It had been protecting her from all sorts of things in the years since she'd gotten it but this was new. Stephen had really went out of his way to keep her safe. Which only made her even more conflicted about everything that was happening so far. Nothing made sense anymore, if she was being honest. She didn't like it.</p><p>"Then find Peter or Harley and cause a bit of ruckus and say I'm in trouble. Do whatever, just make sure he <em>doesn't leave</em> with her. Please."</p><p>"I'll do my best, Toni," promised Maria, drawing her into a brief hug, leaving the shocked genius in the next second. Toni needed a moment to pull herself together, only she regretted not doing it sooner because she found herself on the receiving end of a confident, dazzling smile of none other than James 'Bucky' Barnes, a hand extended to her, asking for a dance.</p><p>"Good evening, Miss. Might I ask the beautiful dame in front of me for a dance?"</p><p>
        <em>'Fuck.'</em>
      </p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>Toni didn't want to. She seriously didn't want to. The only people she had ever danced with willingly - as in not because she <em>had to</em> in order to keep up appearances and good relations with whatever business partners and the like - were Stephen and Rhodey and the latter was practically her brother. Strange usually had all the right to dance with her and she preferred to dance with him over anyone else. Since day one, he made her feel safe in his arms, even when she didn't trust him. And Barnes, despite them being on friendly terms, still remains one of the people she could never let her guard around, at least not to the degree she does with Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Strange and partially the kids were the only ones to see her fully without her guard up and her masks hiding her real feelings.</p><p>Still, she couldn't reject Barnes without garnering more unwanted attention. She was already the center of it, which was not good. It assured that she can't go after Stephen herself, not until she had a good idea as to what to do about the situation. Dancing with Barnes will earn a few exchanged gossip stories, given whom she had come with, but it will lessen suspicion as to her overall presence at the party.</p><p>So she takes the offered hand and allows Barnes to pull her in, grimacing as she unconsciously listed off all the ways this was different from dancing with Stephen. For one, Barnes was a lot more shameless and bold in where he places his hands. Stephen is a raised and bred gentleman, possibly even born with such a disposition. He has only once been less-than-gentlemanly with Toni in all the years that she's known him and it was their first night together, where eagerness and reciprocated want made them both snap just a bit. Two, Barnes was a bit shorter than Strange so Toni felt a bit uncomfortable in the change of position. Stephen's mostly been her only dance partner for the past decade, especially the past year. This was weird. Third, the material under her hands was rough and not nearly as fine as even the rattiest of Stephen's outfits he uses to train. Four, the eyes looking down on her were not only the wrong color but they lacked that special something that Strange always regarded her with. That respect and appreciation and traces of constant <em>awe</em> ... Stephen had more than once said Toni's aura was beautiful and that it fascinated him. She knew he looked at her with more than just eyes.</p><p>This was all beyond disconcerting.</p><p>The worst thing was, perhaps, the fact that she had gotten used to these dances of theirs to be soothing and relaxing, to calm all of her nerves and anxiety. Stephen had taken up to pulling her into his arms, humming a song and just swaying ever since they started dating. Completely at the most random of times. So you can see why dancing with Barnes was so <em>fucking weird</em> since she felt tense and ready to snap. It wasn't even Barnes' fault. He was a good man and a friend but he just wasn't ... <em>Stephen</em>. Not to mention that while she may have gotten over what he did as the Winter Soldier and had even forgiven him, that was with the knowledge that her rage won't change anything, that her parents will stay as dead as they were and that it would be cruel to continue punishing an already tortured and guilt-ridden man, having him around <em>any</em> version of her <em>living</em> parents set every instinct and nerve she possessed on end. She knew it was ridiculous, but something in her <em>demanded</em> that she <em>eliminate</em>the future Winter Soldier and save her parents' lives. But she knew that not only was that dangerous for the timeline, it was also futile. HYDRA wanted Howard and Maria Stark dead and nothing was going to change that. Even if Barnes isn't the one that did the deed, they'd just send another of their Winter Soldiers. Some things and events were inevitable, no matter how much we hate them, and Toni knew her parents' death was one of those things.</p><p>"I seem to be seein' you all over the place. What's a fine dame such as yourself doing here of all places? And with that doctor with a weird name, no less?" Barnes asked as they danced, after a minute or two of silence on the woman's part, perhaps noticing how uncomfortable she was or perhaps growing uncomfortable himself. Or maybe he was just trying to gather intell. Unlike his best friend, Barnes had never been naive nor blind to what war was like and all the ways it could be fought. Even in the forties, the most devastating weapon to possess was information and knowledge.</p><p>"He's a friend and our earlier run ins were accidental now hands up, soldier, or I'm gonna be ripping them off." To Barnes' credit, he only grinned sheepishly and instantly listened. Which was good since she actually liked James and would rather not cause him any more pain than what he has been going through before they could finally sit down and talk and solve all the shit going on between them, indirectly or otherwise.</p><p>"So he won't mind me stealing you away for a while? Maybe longer?"</p><p>Toni glared, uneasy with this James. The James she was used to was like some distant cousin or adopted brother or something to that effect. Thinking that he might view her in <em>that</em> way is no better than having Rhodey look at her like that. "<em>I</em> will." And if she put in just a hint of a threat and a harsh squeeze to his hand while she said that, there was no one around to reprimand her. The Sargent looked down to where her petite hand relaxed in his before turning incredulous eyes up at her. The genius arched a challenging eyebrow at him and was surprised when Barnes burst out in delighted, deep laughter. She couldn't help it. It was so rare to see James smile let alone laugh like this. She joined in with a chuckle, enjoying the moment as they both somewhat relaxed. Still not the atmosphere she'd have around Stephen, but a lot more like when she talked with the James of her time.</p><p>"Damn. And here I thought only Carter and Howard's girl were scary. What has the world come to that women became so terrifying?"</p><p>Toni couldn't help but think of all of her friends, from Pepper to Hope to Carol to Hill to the Dora Milaje to Shuri and even to Gamora and Nebula from the Guardians of the Galaxy and had to wonder that same question, too. She had thought she and Romanov were up there but she had realized her folly real quick. Pepper alone was more terrifying than most threats she had fought, especially when she accidentally buys heels that bother her after wearing them too long. "Every rose has its thorns."</p><p>Barnes snorted at that and gave her a grand twirl that Toni went with, reluctantly admitting he was a good dancer. Not as good as Stephen, but, then again, he hadn't had three hundred years to practice and perfect his form. "My question still stands. You don't look to be too thrilled to be here. And you don't look like the type to mingle with these types of people."</p><p>The billionaire looked around and arched an eyebrow, purposefully doing an extremely elegant and complicated foot shuffle that only professional dancers and people in high society learn, the latter to impress their fellow high class society acquaintances and watching as Barnes looked ready to whistle at her footwork. "What types? Rich and class or rich and beautiful?"</p><p>"Rich and sleazy," was his reply, surprising Stark with his direct manner. "You look like the type that would rather be anywhere else than right here, stroking these bastards' egos."</p><p>"Maybe I have my own ego to be stroked," Toni suggested, letting herself be led through a little thrill in the music, their bodies back to being almost flush together. Barnes knew better than to try to cope a feel now. Though he no longer seemed tempted to. It would seem she had garnered his respect and he saw her as more than helpless eye-candy. Which was good for him. There were plenty of ways to get rid of him without actually killing or maiming him. "I <em>am</em> a genius, after all."</p><p>And Barnes just laughed all over again, highly amused. "Dang. Can I keep you? You know, as a friend. I need some normal. God, I love Stevie but he is becoming a bit unreasonable as of late. Carter tells him 'Plant yourself like a tree and say "You move",' and he takes it almost literally. The only reason he's getting away with some of the crap that he does these days is because he's winning battles and pushing the Nazi back. I think a dame like you could beat some sense into that thick skull of his."</p><p>Toni wasn't even surprised. "So you listened in on Philips' and Carter's little huddle after their failed interrogation of me?" FRIDAY had, after all, been loose on the base, keeping an eye on everything and everyone while Toni and JARVIS managed the more direct parts of their unplanned, impromptu infiltration mission. Her baby girl had been aware someone was outside, listening, but not even she could be everywhere at once. Not without a far more sophisticated security system, anyways. The equipment these days were <em>dinosaurs</em>. Even Toni's AIs had limitations in these working and technological conditions.</p><p>"So I did," the man easily said as though he hadn't just committed a crime against his country, government and the Allied forces. Toni had to admire him for that. "I trust them about as far as Carter can throw Stevie these days. I know war isn't as straightforward as some may think, that these are just people up high playing power games with us 'ordinary people' acting as their pawns. We're the sacrificial lambs for the slaughter and they send us out there with little regret. Them acting all suspicious-like when Agent Collins dragged in an unknown high level threat prisoner made my instincts go haywire. I don't know how much you know about the battlefield but every soldier knows they have to trust their gut instinct if they want to survive. So I tried listening in on the interrogation but couldn't get anywhere near close enough. Listening to their little huddle afterwards was immensely easier."</p><p>"Try the vents, next time." Toni advised with all the seriousness she could manage without her mask of gravity could crack but a chuckle slipped past when Barnes laughed outroaringly at her comment.</p><p>"Damn! You're really something, you know that?"</p><p>-Boss, I caught sight of Doctor Strange. I have some distressing news, though.-</p><p>
        <em>'What? What kind of news? Where is he?'</em>
      </p><p>-Six o'clock. And you should hear this.- Before Toni could say anything to that, an audio feed was transmitting to her and Toni grew kind of cold at what she heard.</p><p><em>"See?"</em> The distinguishable voice of none other than the woman Toni was hunting said, no doubt to Stephen, in a part mocking, part soothing and partially placatingly knowing tone of voice, making Toni's hairs stand on end much like she suspected Peter's did when his spidey senses detected danger. <em>"She doesn't need or want you. She moved on as soon as you got out of her sight. She has no loyalty for you as a companion. You were just convenient for her plans, Stephen. You need to get rid of her before her insane plans get you hurt."</em></p><p><em>"No, Peter said she was in danger. That boy can't lie to save his life, Clea. I'm not letting her deal with those SSR bastards on her own."</em> Stephen sounded as resolute and as stubborn as Toni's ever heard him and that, at least, warmed her heart just enough for her not to be reminded of the freezing cold of Siberia in her own skin.</p><p><em>"She doesn't look like she exactly </em>needs<em> help!"</em> Snapped the demonic woman but Toni panicked a little when Barnes started stirring them away from the immortal pair, continuing on with their dance without heeding Toni's attempts to get away from him or closer to the two sorcerers.</p><p>
        <em>"Toni is a good actress. She'd never let anyone know she needs help as that would be seen as a weakness. Peter wouldn't have come find me unless it was urgent."</em>
      </p><p><em>"Damn it, Stephen! That woman has you wrapped around her little finger and you don't even realize it!"</em> To Toni's continued cause of panic, the words were getting less and less distinguishable the more she danced with Barnes and she started actively struggling now. Barnes noticed this time and tried to ask what was wrong but was interrupted when someone tapped his shoulder. The two looked around and were both shocked by whom they found at the other end of the action.</p><p>"Excuse me, may I cut in?" Howard Stark, dressed second best in the entire ballroom - Stephen being the best, of course, because of ego-boosting purposes - asked, a dangerous glint in his gaze as he eyed Barnes up and down. The soldier actually shivered and offered Toni a parting glance before nodding and leaving her with her father. Howard took a stance that Toni could only guess would be the one a proud, overprotective father would take in a father-daughter dance as he started twirling her around the room, a glare still firmly in place over her shoulder on Barnes' retreating form. "Was he bothering you? Maria said you might need assistance."</p><p>This dance was even weirder than the one she had just ended. Toni had never danced with her father before, at least not as far as her memory reached and she could still remember perfectly well how she had built her first circuit-board at four. "Not really. He was just leading me out of hearing range of Strange and Clea."</p><p>The male Stark got an understanding look in his eye and he changed his stance in a way only an experienced dancer would recognize. He might be leading by default of being a man but he had given Toni reign over their direction of movement. She shot him a grateful look before stirring them closer to the two sorcerers.</p><p><em>"See!? She doesn't even blink before she changes partners! She's cheap, Stephen."</em> Right. Toni had nearly forgotten, mostly because Barnes' approach to her throughout their dance was more curiosity than anything but before some time in the sixties, asking a girl to dance was considered an expression of interest on the man's part. They don't have social media in these times. The only time they could exchange flirtations was during a dance, since not even phones were a commodity yet. Though how changing partners made her cheap was beyond the genius, billionaire, former playgirl, philanthropist, seeing as she still had a right to choose the guy she will express interest in. It's not scandalous to dance with more than one partner. It made more sense that way to Toni. She chats a little with a few guys, decides which one she likes or doesn't like and chooses once she's made a decision. So either Toni really can't grasp forties mentality or Clea was trying to blindside Strange with bullshit.</p><p>"You know, you didn't make it easy for me," Howard says out of the blue, not even startled by the blue light Toni feels burning in her eyes as she strains her enhanced senses and FRIDAY's reach through Extremis. She really hates the lack of satellites or any decent technology.</p><p>"Hm?" She asks distractedly, trying to pick up the magic duo in the crowd. They must be using some spell to mask their presence. As if <em>that</em> was going to deter Toni freaking Stark. <em>'JARVIS, scan for Strange's energy signature and any even remotely like his.'</em></p><p>-Right away, Sir.-</p><p><em>"If she's dancing with Stark, it's definitely nothing good."</em> She heard Strange say before her father distracted her again with his honestly too-shocking-and-unbelievable-to-be-true matter of fact statement that followed up his conversation starter.</p><p>"Well, as your father, it's my duty to give my little girl's man a shovel talk, right? And you just <em>had</em> to go and choose someone like Strange, didn't you? Well, we Starks <em>do</em> tend to pick the difficult, powerful, odd ones. My own mother spent half of her life perfecting the samurai katana technique and my grandmother used to box with the Irish folk for money, which is how my grandfather met her. What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Howard asked when he noticed Toni staring before it probably clicked in his idiotic genius brain. "<em>Oh</em>! Yeah, Maria told me when I nearly had a nervous breakdown after our last little exchange. You could have just <em>said</em> you were who you were instead of running the SSR and <em>us</em> around in circles and watching from the sidelines in amusement. Then again, that <em>does</em> sound like something <em>I</em> would do. Huh. Legacy is weird."</p><p>Toni couldn't help but snort, breaking out of her shock. "You have <em>no</em> idea." Even the nervous breakdown sounds like the type of reaction <em>she</em> would have had in his place. Talk about <em>genetics</em>. "And who I date is <em>my</em> business." It's not like Howard was going to be there when she <em>meets</em> Strange, let alone when she falls in love or they finally get together. A good twenty years will pass after Howard's death before that happens. And for some reason she doesn't want to examine too closely, that thought hurt. Like, a <em>lot</em>. "Besides, I think the only thing that scares that guy is <em>actually</em> loosing me, so I doubt he'd ever do something ... " She nearly trailed off completely, images of what had started this whole mess flashing before her eyes like a movie clip. "That would hurt me."</p><p>Howard, either mot noticing or deciding he had no right to pry, just hummed in contemplation. "I'm still going to give him the shovel talk." He decided after a minute and Toni couldn't stop the startled half laugh, half sob that escaped her at that. For <em>fuck's sake</em>, what was she turning into? She hadn't been this emotional as a moody teenager! Or as a temperamental toddler! "I'd threaten to kill him but, as far as I am aware of, the guy is immortal. There has to be <em>something</em> I could say to, you know, scare him a little. Eh. I'll figure it out eventually. There's still plenty of time until you're born."</p><p>And Toni just shook her head, biting her lip to prevent hysterical giggles from escaping her. This was not good. This was <em>so</em> not good. She was supposed to be on a mission. No one was supposed to <em>know</em> about them being here! And yet ...</p><p><em>"Just leave her be already!"</em> She almost jumped when Clea exclaimed loudly and it felt like the woman had yelled it in her ear. The downside of enhanced hearing and a direct link to her machines, unfortunately. <em>"She's </em>obviously<em> happy where she is! Why waste any more of your time on her? Come </em>on<em>, Stephen. I can promise you a </em>much<em> more enjoyable time than hanging around here. It's been a while since we </em>god together<em>. Though they do say the wait makes it all the better."</em></p><p>And Toni felt sick because she suddenly realized the <em>irony</em> behind this whole mess. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it before. Clea had so <em>confidently</em> marched into Kamar-Taj and gotten what she wanted so <em>easily</em> because she already knew the method would <em>work</em>. She had already tricked Strange that way once before. She had distracted him with lust and sex and had preformed her little spell undisturbed. Falling to his old vices had doomed him. And now, Toni was too far away, will be too late to stop him from leaving to his doo-</p><p><em>"No."</em> The decisive answer apparently surprised both Toni and Clea because both women fell silent. Toni was only half aware Howard was looking at her with concern, too focused on the stretched out silence and what it meant. What it was speaking in Strange's stead.</p><p><em>"No?"</em> The demoness asked, sounding perplexed. <em>"What do you </em>mean<em>, no? No </em>what<em>?"</em></p><p><em>"No, I am not going to leave her. No, I'm not going to </em>abandon<em> her for a round in the sheets with you or anyone else. And </em>no<em>, she is </em>not<em> a waste of my time!"</em> Stephen snapped and Toni felt her heart flutter in a way that would be concerning had she still had the Arc Reactor casing Yinsen had implanted back in Afghanistan. Thank <em>fuck</em> for Extremis and the expertise of Doctor Stephen Strange. <em>"Now, whatever you wanted to discuss can either wait or you can just forget about it. Toni is my friend and as long as she needs me, I'll stay by her side. You can either accept that or walk away, Clea."</em></p><p><em>"By Vishanti, are you </em>in love<em> with her?"</em> Clea's laughter filtered through cold and mocking, cruel. She was taunting Strange. Maybe it was a proximity thing, for the spell. Stephen had an uncanny tendency to loom over anyone who annoys or angers him. <em>"That is </em>pathetic<em>, Strange. You do realize she's going to </em>expire<em>, yes? It's only a matter of time. Why love something so weak? Or do you just want a round with her? She's not even all that special. Average at best."</em></p><p>Toni bristled at that. That <em>bitch</em>! Toni may not be a super model but she was Toni fucking Stark, Iron Maiden, the Merchant of Death, Avenger. The world bowed down before her feet and adored every second of it.</p><p>And, surprisingly, Strange agreed. <em>"She is the most beautiful person I have ever met, on the inside </em>and<em> the outside. And even if she dies, I'll never regret falling for her. So now if you'll excuse me, I have a beautiful woman to steal away from a weapons making millionaire genius with a military contract and zero perception skills."</em></p><p>-Incoming, Boss.-</p><p>-I am tracking Doctor Strange's movements. The woman known as Clea appears to be following.-</p><p>"Shit," she cursed under her breath, finally realizing she was still with a now worried Howard.</p><p>"Toni? Are you okay? You zoned out for a bit." Toni stared at him before her eyes started flitting over the room, her brain running calculations and risk rates. Obliging, JARVIS planned out the safest and most discreet escape roots while FRIDAY contacted her fellow AIs, preparing for action. And as if Toni didn't have enough piled up on her plate, a very distressing message reached her from the time travel communicator. <em>'Double shit.'</em> Wong, Master Hamir and Doctor Palmer were in trouble. The sorcerers were fighting off Clea back in their time while Christine and the Cloak seem to be trying to hide him before the demoness could finish the job. She needed to wrap things up here, fast, especially since Strange seemed to be in the mood to diss Clea, perhaps for good. She can't waste this perfect opportunity.</p><p>She looked up at her future father, did one last round of checks and calculations before mentally apologizing to her unlikely friend. <em>'Harley, I think it's time to blow some shit up. Shuri, I'm about to make a commotion. Slip out as soon as you can. Peter, Clea is approaching me. I'll get Strange but we could use some Spider-Man webbing intervention.'</em></p><p>
        <em>"Got it, Ms Stark."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"Great! I'm already right next to the window. I'll get out as soon as I plant an explosion."</em>
      </p><p>
        <em>"I informed your mother. She's ready to extract your father as soon as you leave him."</em>
      </p><p>"Toni?"</p><p>"Barnes groped my ass," Toni said out of the blue, swearing to buy Barnes a puppy or something as an apology for this once she gets home. She watched as Howard seemed to process the information before his face turned stone cold. She saw traces of the man she had first met after arriving in the past, the man who may have very well been willing to risk Stephen's life in order to be ahead of the game, and Toni thinks she now understands where her 'Merchant of Death' side might come from. Between her parents, it's a miracle she hadn't ended up as the human, female version of a <em>much</em> deadlier Thanos. Yeeks.</p><p>"Please excuse me for a second," was all the other Stark said before all but lunging for Barnes, who had found another girl to dance with and had kept relatively close to Toni since he knew SSR had been hunting her for less than a month. The soldier yelped as Howard punched him straight in the face, stumbling back as the girl he was with screamed in fright.</p><p><em>"I'm done. You guys have twenty seconds before utter chaos ensues."</em> Harley informed them before cutting the link, probably going to meet up with Shuri so they could all get out of there.</p><p>Toni had no time to focus on that, as another female yell, this one of rage, reached her ears just as a hand appeared in front of her face, elegant and with scars so light they were almost invisible against the rest of the skin. She looked up and met the always familiar emerald green eyes of Stephen as he offered her his hand, a gesture that shouldn't be as familiar to him as it was to her.</p><p>And, as always, Toni took it.</p><p>Without hesitation.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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<p></p><div><p>Doctor Christine Palmer was a good, nice woman who had dedicated her life to saving those of others and enjoyed in the feeling that was a result of doing a good deed. She had studied for a decade of her life just to treat the sick or the injured and she had seen all sorts of cases. She was bright and quick witted, which she knew attracted her the attention of none other than Doctor Stephen Strange, the best neurosurgeon and overall doctor in the field of medicine. They became friends, she learned that behind his immense ego there was also a good heart and they even became on again, off again lovers. The definition of friends with benefits, really. He took her to glamorous galas and she brought him back to Earth by insisting he come with her to a deli every now and again.</p><p>She often asked for his advice and in turn he never turned her down or disappointed her when she needed him. They built a special kind of rapport between them that they usually both enjoyed. She was probably the only one in the hospital that could stand Stephen and his <em>strange ways</em>, besides maybe his saintly patient nurse, Billy, and Christine had always found it kind of comforting. Stephen was an incredible, intelligent, handsome man. He could probably have anyone he wanted but he stuck by her and Christine was proud of that.</p><p>She saw some <em>truly</em> weird things ever since she became friends with him, though. The strangest of cases and sometimes outright events seemed to concentrate around him. People, too, like that librarian Wong fellow. Of course, she thought him unusual in his almost medieval robes when she first saw him. He never said in <em>which</em> library he worked in so she had been left wondering whether it was in Shaolin or something like that. Because it wouldn't surprise her at all if Stephen knew Shaolin monks. And then there was that exotic, bleach blond lady with sharp cheekbones to rival Stephen's that Stephen never looked overly pleased to see but still slept with her when she would pop up. For a long while, Christine had thought that they had the same arrangement like she did or even that the woman was blackmailing him. But Strange was so in control of his life that it seemed practically impossible. Still, that woman gave her the chills, even though she smiled and overall expressed more emotions than the only other ... friend (acquaintance?) of Stephen's that she'd met.</p><p>Of course, <em>now</em>, many years later, after she had thought Stephen dead when he disappeared off of the face of the Earth and had done her best to move on from her friend and one-time crush's inevitable fate after how <em>devastated</em> he was after his accident, she finally learns the truth. From none other than Toni honest-to-god Stark stepping through the portal and inviting her into a real life Hogwarts, where she got acquainted with what has been Stephen's life before she met him and after she last saw him. He, of course, being <em>Stephen</em>, made things all that much worse because the goddamn idiot somehow managed to get seduced by a demon that just so happens to be the cold woman Christine never liked and now it was up to an old man that is a sorcerer, a magic cape, Stephen's librarian friend who just so happens to be a sorcerer too, Toni Stark aka Iron Maiden, Rescue who is a kid, Spider-Man who is <em>also</em> a kid and the Princess of Wakanda who is a kid <em>too</em> to make sure he doesn't die and leave Earth defenseless in the eyes of the multiverse.</p><p>The superheroes going back in time to deal with this mess made sense. Hell, <em>magic</em> made sense the more time she spent around the two sorcerers going through dozens of records of Strange's activities in the 1940s and the apparently sentient flying cape - "Cloak of Levitation," as pretty much everyone kept correcting her - as she monitored Stephen's quickly worsening state. <em>Hell</em>, demons, alternate realities and arch nemesis made more sense that one would think!</p><p>What made <em>no sense whatsoever</em> was the idea that Stephen Strange had been dating Toni Stark for a year and had decided to <em>cheat on her</em>. Her! <em>Toni Stark</em>. Christine was straight and, hell, she knew Dr Stark was a beauty worth fighting for in those old, barbaric and overly romanticized knight duels. <em>She</em> would tap that and probably do her best never to leave. She didn't know much about the billionaire woman but she could guess from their brief interactions that she and Strange would get on <em>splendidly</em>. Stephen had always been looking for a challenge, apparently even longer than Christine could imagine. But she was sure if <em>anyone</em> could provide said challenge, it would be Stark.</p><p>Which only made her suspicious of this whole setting. Stephen wasn't kinky, last time she had sex with him. He actually preferred both himself and his partner to be free to move about as they wished. He liked a challenge, even under the bed sheets. And the man was constantly on high alert. Christine had more than once seen him anticipate someone's entrance into an operating room and snap at one of the nurses to get rid of the bother unless it was a matter of life or death before whoever was coming was even ten feet from the OR doors. There was no way this ... demoness had managed to surprise him, though there <em>was</em> the possibility this was instantaneous. Everyone kept repeating how that pendant thing of his was compromised and from what she understood, it was extremely powerful. This whole mess was so confusing that Christine no longer knew what to think. Only thing she <em>did</em> know was that Stephen was no cheater. Or at least she hoped. She was a woman. She was more perceptive than a man ever could be. She had seen the heartbreak and betrayal and despair in Dr Stark's eyes every time she looked at Stephen. She hoped Stephen will be able to explain. The way the two sorcerers spoke about their relationship made her wonder if she'll ever find a fit like that for her.</p><p>Most of all, she hoped the two <em>get a chance</em> to work it out. As in, that they both <em>survive</em> because things weren't looking optimistic at the moment.</p><p>Clea had come back, as Dr Stark had predicted might happen. She had apparently used the power she had stolen from Stephen so far good, enslaving a small squadron of creatures the sorcerers called the Mindless Ones, beings that were supposed to obey only Stephen as the master of the Dark Dimension but were now under Clea's control because she had enough of his partner to 'earn' their 'loyalty'. They were easy to destroy and not very smart but they just <em>won't die</em>. Christine had jokingly asked the sorcerers if they were sure the creatures shouldn't be called the <em>Undying Ones</em> or something of the sort, only for Wong casually to inform her mid spell that <em>those</em> were a whole other species of demons from a completely different dimension. Right. Makes sense. Either way, they were almost overrun, Clea had placed them in what the elder sorcerer stated to be a separate pocket dimension, Wong and him were too busy fighting for their lives to help Christine as she and the Cloak of Levitation ran through this Kamar-Taj that wasn't exactly the physical Kamar-Taj, trying to hide and delay a madly cackling Clea from getting her evil hands on the still pretty-much-on-his-deathbed - or ... Cloak - and finishing him off. The doctor had barely had enough time to catch her breath and send out a short message - Dr Stark's reputation seems to be dully underrated. A communication device whose reach crosses <em>decades</em> of time? That woman was a goddess in the guise of a helpless mortal, Christine swears. <em>Why</em> did Stephen cheat on her again? Seems like an extremely <em>dumb</em> thing to do - to their companions in the past. It was hard to compose the needed urgency with only five words per message and only three messages before the thing needs to cool down, but it was still a marvel of technology and made the situation sort of easier. You just need a cool head to choose those five (fifteen, if you send three messages) words accordingly. Christine had had to call on all of her experience as an ER surgeon in order to get herself together - for who knows which time that day; was it really only one day? She sure felt like she was living through the month like the team that had traveled to the past and she was sure the two sorcerers felt like it, too - so she could type in the message, trying not to make any typos. No sooner than she had finished the message, Clea had found them again and they had to flee again.</p><p>After what felt like days of being hounded, Christine found herself barricaded in what seems to have been Dr Stark's guest room from when she had first shortly visited Kamar-Taj - those sorcerers were worst gossips than Metro General's nurses, <em>seriously</em> - as there was a clear feminine touch to it despite it being used only once. The Cloak had led them here, activated what appears to be some sort of protection runes - in this dimension that Clea had brought them in, they could see the flows of actively used magic all over the place in the forms of bright colors and pretty lights, even if the spells were supposed to be invisible to the naked eye. Had she not been running for her and her friend's life, Christine would have been <em>awed</em> by the display of what was no doubt Stephen's everyday life - and locked the door. If Palmer had ever doubted how deep Stephen's feelings ran for the eccentric genius billionaire, the amount of protection runes alone confirmed how much he loved her. Christine couldn't help but wonder if she'll ever find someone to love <em>her</em> that much, to do everything in their power to assure that the room meant to contain her at her most vulnerable was the one which is the bet and most protected, despite there being a library full of dangerous secrets and rooms filled with powerful artifacts all around.</p><p>She hoped the spells will hold. Clea has been pounding at them for an hour already, quite relentlessly. They seem to be doing fine but the attacks were only getting stronger by the minute as Stephen looked more and more sickly on the soft bed. Even though knowing it was useless, Christine had still barricaded the doors with as much furniture as she could, the Cloak helping her move the heavier things with ease.</p><p>Now she stood with some sword thing in her hands and the Cloak as her only backup between the bed and the door, dread filling her as the thick wood finally started cracking. The spells could obviously hold under pressure, but the wood couldn't. It was probably hundreds of years old! It was a miracle it had stood up against the assault as long as it had.</p><p>Christine looked at Stephen, at the Cloak; she thought of Wong and Master Hamir, she believed was his name. She thought of the three teens that traveled to the past with Dr Stark. They were all ready to perish for this. No matter how terrifying.</p><p>Christine tightened her grip, took a steadying breath and stood her ground.</p><p>She'll protect Stephen to her last dying breath.</p><p>00000</p><p>There was a lot to be said about Toni and her calculative mind.</p><p>There was also a lot to be said about luck.</p><p>Because no matter how great of a genius one was, one cannot simply predict that Spider-Man's webbing of Clea's feet would coincide with Howard's punch so perfectly that not only did Clea fall down like a cut tree with her feet webbed to the floor but then Barnes fell over and landed right on top of her, pinning her to the ground and humiliating her in front of some of the top elite of Bern of this time. It also distracted and delayed her reaction time, which would end up being priceless in the following chaos.</p><p>And, to top it all off, not a second after Toni took Stephen's offered hand, things went <em>boom</em> in a big way, making people scream and run for their lives. Suddenly, SSR, Nazi, HYDRA and the Allies' soldiers were revealing themselves from all over the place and the most confusing and utterly <em>confused</em> exchange of fire happened in history as everyone tried to figure out which one of them had planted the bomb. Harley and Shuri were already far away and Peter was already hightailing it out of a window.</p><p>That only left Toni and Stephen in the line of fire. Barnes and Rogers - not that she particularly cared about the latter - will get out fine. Carter will find her own way. Maria will eventually get Howard to safety unnoticed.</p><p>Toni and Stephen exchanged a look and then they were on the run, Stephen phasing them through different patches of the crowd with magic in order to avoid any soldiers that might get in their way. Even over the panicked screams of the crowd and the thundering of dozens of finely dressed feet, Toni could still make out Clea raging. She no doubt had already freed herself of Barnes but Peter must have chosen one of the stronger webs he and Toni had been toying around with ever since that whole homecoming fiasco and him becoming her protégé. If the kid was feeling extra vindictive, he had probably used the extra slimy, fire-resistant one. If Clea were to wait for it to dissolve, she'll be here all night. Stark didn't know how well any of the webs can hold up against magic - especially magic from the Dark Dimension and she'll have to invest in that if they all survive this shit - but she hoped it delays her at least long enough for Stephen and her to exit the new battle ground.</p><p>As they were waving through the crowd, Toni suddenly stumbled, feeling herself be yanked by the coattails of her long dress in the opposite direction, her hand involuntarily slipping from Strange's. The Sorcerer Supreme was rounding about immediately, but so was Toni, coming face to face with baby blue eyes she did <em>not</em> ever want to be this close to ever again. Any other <em>normal</em> dress would have already been ripped beyond saving had it been yanked on like Rogers was pulling on hers, a stubborn expression on his face. Stark didn't need to look behind her in order to know magic was starting to gather in Stephen's hands. Rogers was oblivious to the danger he was in. As always, his wants, needs and agendas were the 'right' and most important ones and always came first.</p><p>"You're HYDRA, aren't you." It was a straight out accusation, based on no facts or even any personal interaction. It was exactly the kind of judgement Steve had bestowed upon her when they first met. He read Romanov's report and a few gossip articles and thought he knew everything there was to know about Toni Stark. She won't deny he's a good field commander, but there was a reason neither she nor SHIELD nor apparently SSR ever let him deal with the pre- and post mission things, like statistics, liaising with the right authorities or the logistics of the entire mission. He tends to look at one set of information and ignore any contradicting reports. Even if SHIELD wasn't SHIELDRA, they wouldn't have let him botch up their missions and their secrecy with his idiocy and lack of any real knowledge about being a commanding officer and leader of a team, especially one as volatile and dangerous as the Avengers.</p><p>"Let go of my dress, Rogers, or I'll be snapping your hand like a twig," she warned, daring him not to take her seriously. The blond just frowned and even had the guts - or lacked the brains to realize <em>why</em> he shouldn't do it - to pull her closer. Toni could hear crackling and knew Stephen was probably as ready as she was to introduce Rogers to a whole new world of pain ... Or more likely, the Dark Dimension. They both knew that the longer they stayed here, the more likely they were to get caught in the erratic crossfire. "This is my last warning. <em>Let. Go</em>."</p><p>"Listen, Ma'am, I don't want to hurt a lady-"</p><p>"Well, I want to hurt you," was all Toni said, feigned a right and then delivered a swift left uppercut like she usually did when boxing with Happy when Rogers bought her bluff and tried to evade the first 'punch'. Unlike Happy, though, he didn't see the other one coming and had no time to dodge. And Toni wasn't holding back, Extremis burning a bright blue in her eyes and even showing through her veins a bit. Nothing too noticeable if you didn't know what to look for or didn't have enhanced eyesight plus super fast brain. Either way, her uppercut sent Rogers flying into the nearest solid object/obstacle, which just so happened to be a pillar a few feet behind him, knocking his head against the marble and disorienting himself from the double collision. He tried to stand up but his center of gravity still seemed to be woozy. Toni cursed when she saw an opportunistic HYDRA agents, if the gun he used was any indication, approach to take the opportunity to off the Americans best weapon and while she personally had no love lost for Rogers, he <em>did</em> save New York and other major cities so she had to make sure he survives tonight. She had a repulsor glove out and shooting the bug in a second, only for another HYDRA agent to be yanked away from her with crimson chains on her right and two approaching from their left to be shot down by none other than Barnes.</p><p>He came over to Rogers, nodding to her as he walked past her. "Get out of here before anyone else belays you. This whole place is swarming with both Nazi and HYDRA." Toni returned the nod and dissolved her dress into a German military uniform, even a hat on her head as though she were a high ranking officer. "Wow. That's <em>awesome</em>."</p><p>"I know I am," she smirked at him and he returned it with a grin before he hauled up Rogers and started dragging him no doubt towards the location where their team was waiting to rendezvous. Toni couldn't help but call out to his retreating back. "Don't go on any trains! They're dangerous!" But James just waved at her and she wondered if he had even heard her over the screaming and the gunfire.</p><p>-Sir, I am detecting Clea's energy signature approaching your location.- Toni cursed at JARVIS' report, running back over to Stephen and started to lead him out. To the surprise of the doctor, she barked for the German soldiers to cover them in perfect German as she led him out, cursing in several languages when they eventually ran across the actual commander of the Nazi forces in Bern. Predictably, they then became the main targets and would have probably been dead had Strange not put up a shield and then phased them onto the other side of the soldiers. They, of course, started running as soon as their feet hit the ground but the Nazi soldiers weren't far behind them, either. Toni gave up pretenses and had her nanites form the armor, only using her stealth mode configurations, so it was black and dark blue instead of her usual flashy red and gold colors, the lights of the suit muted so as to not stand out so much in the dark. It helped her blend in with the night and Strange was also dressed in black so they must have made quite a pair to anyone who had the time or the presence of mind to look. Still, the Germans knew there was someone there and they kept firing blindly in their general direction, which was all sorts of dangerous. FRIDAY was once again doing surveillance, observing them from up in the air and it was only thanks to her that Toni made Strange stop after they had turned one corner into a fancy and now deserted parking lot and before turning the second one that would lead them to the open road.</p><p>They may have put enough distance between them and the soldiers for Stephen to open a portal and get them out of there but he didn't know that just around that corner, two armored vehicles and a thank were waiting for any foolish squadron to be blown up. Still, Strange knew she had all sorts of spy drones all around so he knew she had the best perception of any given situation unless it dealt with magic beyond detecting its active energies, which was in turn his area of specialties.</p><p>"We've got company ahead and we can't go back. Can you open a portal from here?"</p><p>"It's not a problem of being able to or not. The problem lies in alerting people like them to my existence and of those like me, whom are under my protection," the sorcerer replied instantly, eyes flitting back and forth, looking for danger. "I won't be able to close whatever I do fast enough but for it still to be safe for us."</p><p>Toni's mind was racing, FRIDAY's updates feeling like a countdown. JARVIS' continued reports on Clea's progress was <em>not</em> helping either. She had the suit, but she can't fly them away fast enough for the stealth it was designed for to kick in. Landings could go unseen, take off's not so much. The sound alone will alert everyone she was there and she had no guarantee that she could hide Strange, too. The cloaking tech is meant to make her blend in with her surroundings, not make other things invisible!</p><p>Cloaking ... blending in ... <em>invisible</em> ...</p><p>
        <em>'That's it!'</em>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>When the soldiers arrived to the parking lot, they were surprised to find nothing and no one but a few more or less beat up and hole-ridden cars left in the practically empty space. There was no sign of their targets and they hadn't heard the tanks or their fellow Nazis firing, so it was easy to assume they'd never seen anyone come their way. Which would be impossible with how lit up the parking lot was, so even the duo's dark clothes wouldn't be of any help. Confused, they jumped to the task of searching the lot when one of the higher ranking soldiers barked the order at them, hastening to cover the open grounds and check the shrubbery and gardens all around the place. Those were the only places they could have hid and the hill just beyond were steep and dangerously high until any decent roads could be reach. The descent would be noisy and practically impossible to make, especially at night. It was a crescent moon and there would be little to no long not even five meters from the parking lot's edges so they were fairly certain they'll catch the two.</p><p>Toni thought they were idiots as she watched them search from her and Strange's hiding place, though the thought barely registered in her mind. <em>Why?</em>, one may ask. Well, the answer was fairly simple.</p><p>As soon as the idea had occurred to her, she had called back her suit and rounded on Strange, telling him to put some sort of invisibility or cloaking spell on them both and that they should just move out of the way and wait out for the idiots searching for them to leave. Stephen had approved of her plan but suggested a glamour rather than an invisibility spell, saying it was quicker but that they'll have to sacrifice range for speed. Toni was okay with that. It only meant that they'll have to stick together, which works out fairly well as she still needs to keep Strange from falling back into Clea's clutches. But then she had been reminded of the demon woman and pointed out they'll need to hide their presence, too, to which Strange said he'll deal with it. However, then there came the problem of finding a hiding place. These were Nazi they were talking about and they were in the middle of an impromptu war zone. The Germans won't hesitate to fire as many rounds as they want to kill anyone beyond their line of sight to make sure no one escapes. Which left the shrubbery as a non-option, along with any car. Or at least the <em>inside</em> of any car, or so Strange pointed out. He said he had a solution and dragged Toni along with him.</p><p>Which is how she found herself practically pinned to the ground with Strange practically lying on top of her, a hand on each side of her head, his body pressing lightly onto hers with every breath they took, breathing the same air and sharing body heat. Underneath a fucking beat up Aston Martin that had <em>definitely</em> seen better days. With Nazi soldiers swarming the place. And, really, Toni herself must be an idiot because all she could think about was their position and how unfair it was that he seemed unaffected. She practically couldn't breathe and yet he was perfectly capable of focusing on keeping an eye out for any enemies that might get too close. The glamour should convince them that they had searched the underside of the car sufficiently and they'll move on with nothing to report, but it was always best to keep vigilant. A thing Toni was currently having a very hard time doing and she hated herself for that.</p><p>It's not like this is the first time she and Stephen had been this close together. For heaven's sake, they fuck regularly! They had a healthy appetite for each other, especially after a decade of practically teasing and taunting each other with the possibilities. And even when not counting their sexual exploits or the proper dancing stance they take that requires such proximity, they've had their moments. Toni can actually recall several occasions and, if memory served right, which it did, almost every time Stephen had (jokingly?) asked her out. Like that one time when Toni had had to shove him into a closet when the Avengers first moved into the Tower. He had asked if that was her way of proposing to him to be her new 'squeeze', which had left her inappropriately close to hysterical laughter and nearly blushing as red as the Cloak, which had only brought them even closer in the tight space because it was <em>weird</em> like that. Or that time she had all but barreled into him over her bed in her suite when Pepper had walked in to berate her for not sleeping and left huffing when she found Toni wasn't there and left to search for her again, leaving Toni practically straddling her sorcerer friend and punching his chest as he made jokes about Toni skipping bases and going straight for the home run. And there was even that one occurrence when she had accidentally ran into him as she was racing to get away from an annoying Rogers who kept asking her for a date, only for the Cloak to wrap around her and then drag both her and its master into an alcove, in its shadows, and they had to wait out for Rogers to pass them, oblivious as always to Toni's wishes. Stephen had went as far as to sarcastically throw in the line "Once again, fate throws us in each other's path." He definitely deserved the swats over the head both she and the Cloak gave him for that, not that it had discouraged him from asking her out to lunch to 'discuss these twists of fate' and 'how they were going to deal with them'.</p><p>Now that she thought about it, maybe that one had been more serious than she originally thought and she had just been blind to it post New York. Damn. Some genius <em>she</em> was.</p><p><em>'Wait. Isn't Strange on my shit list these days?'</em> She asked, to herself or to her always present AIs, she did not know but that didn't prevent them from answering.</p><p>-I believe you should look into this whole situation more carefully before you make any decisions, Sir.- JARVIS, her beautiful, amazing JARVIS, always her voice of reason, said to her anonymously directed question, sounding as reasonable as ever. -From what we've all observed of Doctor Strange over the years, it is not his style to pretend and deceive. If he had indeed decided to end your relationship, if he had indeed fell out of love with you, I know fir a fact that he would still respect you, possibly as much as his teacher. He would never dishonor you with going behind your back. I think you should hear his side of the story before you make any final decisions.-</p><p>FRIDAY, though, almost made her snort with her reply. -Besides, even if it <em>does</em> turn out that he's a cheating piece of shit, that will be <em>his</em> loss. Especially since I plan on using him as target practice.- And FRIDAY had delivered all that casually with a frighteningly chipper tone to her artificial voice. That was her baby girl. She was so proud of her kids.</p><p>Besides, they made a good point. Toni knew only what she had seen but what <em>had</em> she actually seen? The couch blocked a lot of it from view from where she was standing. She only saw Stephen sitting there and Clea ridding him. And Wong can't determine at what time the spell had been activated, could only tell the amount of time they knew him to be in the state Toni had last seen him before embarking on this journey through time. Toni didn't know if Clea had activated the spell before or during taking her pleasure in Stephen's lap. She had no way of clearly saying that Stephen had been a willing participant. Not without proper proof. And she couldn't get proper proof since she didn't have the right angle. Her mind may be a computer right now but that didn't mean it could construct data without evidence. Not worthwhile, dependable data.</p><p>"Well, this is a fucking mess. Quite pathetic, too. Can you please watch out for me? I have this uncanny tendency to adopt people when I feel sad." She had to whisper because the glamour didn't cover sound. But given how close they were, there was no need to be any louder, anyway.</p><p>But Stephen just looked down at her, no response. As always, the intensity in his gaze had shivers running up and down her spine, a feeling she was quite familiar with at this point. She stared up at him, wondering what was going through that beautiful mind of his, only for her breathing to hitch when one scarred hand moved and cupped her cheek. For the first time since she had met him, there were minute tremors running through his fingers, like it happened all the time to the alternative Stephens they had met on that very weird day. She only had a chance to glance down at them before Stephen spoke, drawing her eyes back to him. Her heart fluttered like a caged bird at the almost devastated look in those emerald eyes she had come to know and love so much. What could <em>possibly</em> have caused such a reaction? Had she said something insensitive? Had she stepped all over a trigger?</p><p>"Stephen? Wha-"</p><p>"Why can't I have you?"</p><p>Okay, that was <em>not</em> something she had <em>ever</em> expected to hear, especially at that moment. Especially from Stephen in such a weak, vulnerable voice. Even when he was telling her about what happened to his first love, he had never sounded this devastated, this vulnerable, this <em>hurt</em>. "What?" Was all she could say. What else <em>was</em> there to say? It's not everyday you get to hear that from the past version of your boyfriend that hadn't actually met you yet. Not that just <em>meeting</em> the past version of your boyfriend that hadn't even met you yet <em>was</em>. It's just something she has practically come to accept as inevitable after meeting her alternate selves, one of whom had caused his own past self's heart attack in order to get the Tesseract. Now that she thought about it, maybe telling that part to her pseudo sons hadn't been the best idea. It's probably where Harley's fear that she'll off herself in that way came from. <em>'Not the time to think about that, brain!'</em></p><p>Fortunately, Strange distracted her ... Or maybe not, considering what he had to say.</p><p>"Why can't I keep you?" And he even sounded a bit angry now, which was always better than despair in Toni's book. She knew how to deal with anger. "Just <em>you</em>. That's all I ask. Haven't I given up enough already? Haven't I <em>lost</em> enough? Decades upon decades of watching the world move on as I loose all my friends over and over again! I've been driven to near insanity more times than I care to count! I've never complained. I never <em>asked</em> for anything. I know I've been selfish enough for several lifetimes before I was trialed for supposedly being in league with the devil. But I've saved the multiverse from collapse and despair more times than I have years! When will it be <em>enough</em>!? When can I keep <em>one</em> thing, <em>one person</em> I care about and not fear losing them!?" His thumb was caressing her cheek, his eyes had a thin sheen of what could very well be repressed tears, his face was a mask of loss. "Why can't it be <em>you</em>? Nothing and no one else. Just <em>you</em>."</p><p>And Stark was floored - pun not intended. She didn't know how to react. Would <em>you</em>? If someone was looking at you with such emotion, <em>so many</em> of them twisting in the depths of eyes you're used to being as clear as day, if it was someone you loved dearly and had thought you might as well have lost them? Because if you know, Toni would like a hint. "Stephen," she whispered and it had nothing to do with necessity this time. She feared she'd never get the words out if she had to speak louder. The world around them might as well have stopped for all that either of them were paying attention. "You know I don't belong here. I have ... I have to go back to the future. I have to go back <em>home</em>. My mission will be over tonight, for better or for worse. Our friends <em>need</em> us. I can't stay. I have to think about the kids ... "</p><p>"Why can't you send them back and just <em>you</em> stay?" He asked desperately, clearly already knowing how futile it was, that she won't change her answer. "I've never felt this way before. About <em>anyone</em>."</p><p>"You did with Gina."</p><p>Strange didn't even question how she knew that name. He only shook his head in denial. "No, I loved her but I wasn't <em>in love</em> with her. She could have been a friend or a sister or a working partner. I've never felt my heart tearing itself apart like it does every time I think I'll never see you again. And to think all of this started off with you hating me. And you never explained that, by the way. That doesn't seem overly fair."</p><p>The woman hesitated, her heart racing. This wasn't her Stephen. And yet ... "I never hated you. I was angry and you hurt me and I couldn't distance myself from that so I lashed out at you for something you still haven't done. Maybe hadn't done at all."</p><p>He frowned at that, disbelieving and now apparently angry at himself. "I would <em>never</em> do something to voluntarily or willingly hurt you, Toni. I ... I think I'm truly in love with you. I <em>love</em> you. Just the thought of you hurting has my blood boiling. I just want to throw whoever is responsible into the Dark Dimension for it to feed on them. I doubt there would ever be something that could change my mind."</p><p>And Toni <em>desperately</em> wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe Stephen was telling the truth, that, however horrific a theory it might be, her theory on Clea catching him off guard and then amusing herself was the truth rather than the other thought that was torturing her poor, poor, abused heart. Because after a decade of having him almost constantly in her life, after seeing how torturous <em>just two months </em>of his absence were, she didn't want to live the rest of it - a <em>fucking</em> eternity - without him there, by her side. Because that ... That was her Hell. Losing everyone around her and not having his support to get through it. That was <em>worse</em> than Hell and she's speaking as someone who had actually seen it.</p><p>"I want to believe that but I can't be sure. Time changes people ... " She trailed off as she felt what might as well have been a scuff from the two Infinity Stones on her hands. Huh. She had almost completely forgotten about them. Talk about how intense the last month had been. They were <em>literally</em> infinite sources of power and she had all but forgotten about them in all the drama she had been living through, everything from the Sorcerer Supreme to her parents to the kids to James. <em>How</em> wasn't she in hysterics again? No doubt her very companion's doing, even if he wasn't aware of it.</p><p>"Wait, does this mean we'll meet again?" Said Sorcerer Supreme's question brought her back from the brink of actually <em>spiraling</em> into a panic attack right then and there. She focused on his eyes and saw such <em>hope</em> in them that her heart stopped before beating even harder. Strange must feel its frantic beat now for sure. Thank whatever deity for Extremis, otherwise she'd be having some serious blood pressure and heart bruising problems. "Please answer me, Toni," he pleaded, resting his forehead against hers as his other hand reached for her left. She tried to jerk away, knowing she will give in to him if he goes any further, that she's been longing for his tender touch ever since the day he helped her through her panic attack after finding out the darker truth about her parents. Stephen had her caged in and she knew she should feel panicked about that since she was sending him obvious signs she didn't want this - <em>all lies</em>, her heart whispered - but she wasn't. She knew he'd never hurt her and both Infinity Stones were sending her impressions that fortified that conclusion.</p><p>If anything, she felt the calmest she had been in a month.</p><p>"<em>Please</em>."</p><p>And that was enough for her to break, the hand that had been trying to push him away fisting into the front of his clothes. "Yes," was all she said and all she could say when Stephen's lips descended on hers a second later. Toni only moaned. It felt like coming home.</p><p>Stephen pulled back not long after the kiss started, beaming at her in a way she wasn't sure she'd ever seen him before. His thumb was now massaging her lips, eyes drinking in every line of her face, saving it in that photographic memory of his. Toni wondered if she had screwed up. "I'll wait for you. I'll wait for you and I'll find you. One day. I promise. No matter how long it takes."</p><p>"Don't do that to yourself," she found herself saying, her own eyes now glistening with tears. "I'm really not worth it."</p><p>"You really are. And <em>so much more</em>," he breathed into her ear, tracing kisses down her cheek to her jaw and down her neck. Toni jerked when he suddenly bit and started sucking on a sensitive spot, holding back a whimper. Of all her lovers, only Strange had ever found <em>that</em> spot. Stephen had always loved that fact and always made sure to lavish that spot with as much attention - and as much love bites - as he can manage. When he was done, he admired his work, her no doubt already bruising neck and her flushed cheeks, before he gave her another chaste kiss. "I'll wait. However long it takes."</p><p>And Toni didn't have the heart to tell him Antonia Carbonell will never exist.</p><p>Nor did she have the time, as suddenly the car they were hiding underneath was lifted by some dark energy and flung away. More as a part of a temper tantrum than Clea finding them but it startled Stephen enough that he accidentally released the glamour, alerting everyone to their little hiding place. And they were entirely far too tangled together to spring apart and into action with enough time to actually defend themselves as HYDRA soldiers and Clea all zeroed in on them. The woman in particular looked incredibly pissed. Clea looked prepared to end this now and Toni knew she can't allow Stephen to kill her, no matter how tempting it might be. Clea was part of the timeline. But she couldn't let her get her hands on either of them, either.</p><p>So Toni didn't even think. She just detangled her left hand from Stephen's hold and raised it up. The HYDRA commander just had enough time to order the soldiers to shoot when Clea launched the first attack.</p><p>(But somewhere far away, a certain blue Stone shone brightly within its container, answering the call of one not yet born, its cube-like container glowing stronger and startling the people working around it as its power carried across miles and miles. But what was any distance to the Space Stone?)</p><p>And as soon as the HYDRA guns fired, the spark of the Tesseract's energy got extinguished as a big blue wormhole opened above the pair and then surged down, swallowing them whole in front of all of their eyes. The Nazis were scrambling back in fear, throwing down their weapons and running away, even the commander.</p><p>Then it was only Clea who remained and who screamed her frustration to the sky.</p><p>Iron Maiden and the Sorcerer Supreme were gone.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>Toni screamed throughout the short Infinity Stone journey through space before another wormhole opened up and spat them out on the floor of the hotel room Strange had rented for them all, startling the already gathered and already worrying teens when they just crash landed like that. Stephen had twisted them around so he was beneath her and he took on most of the impact, grunting in discomfort but not batting an eyelash in pain, just keeping her close as he automatically went into doctor mode and started checking her for injuries.</p><p>Not that he got much of an opportunity before Peter was hauling her up so that he, Harley and Shuri could check her over themselves. It would seem everyone is a mother hen these days.</p><p>Still, Toni didn't hear much of anything they were saying right now. She was staring at her left hand, the place that was meant to house the Space Stone still glittering with blue particles as the last dredges of its power and the connection that had snapped into place even at a distance slowly faded away. That ... was probably one of the oddest experiences she had lived through and that was saying something, honestly. What surprised her even more than that sorcerer Tony's theory of them all being destined to wield the Infinity Stones and them being drawn to them was that fact that she didn't feel any indications that she'll end up going into a panic attack. She'd just been through a wormhole identical to the one in New York, albeit much smaller in proportion, but it was the same. All smokey and crackling with energy, as blue as the Tesseract and the Infinity Stone it housed within it. Instead, she had felt a sensation of utter safety she usually attributed with JARVIS and Extremis and her lab. And Stephen. Perhaps that's why it hadn't been so scary? Being held in Stephen's arms? That usually did calm her right down, no matter what the situation might be.</p><p>Hell, it had calmed her down right after <em>Thanos</em>! And that was quite a feat.</p><p>"Guys, we're fine. Stop freaking out." The teens were obviously reluctant to believe her and Toni rolled her eyes. Seriously, when had everyone decide to collectively become mother hens!? Did she miss the memo or something? "It's the guys back home we have to worry about. It would seem our least favorite demon has come to finish what she started."</p><p>"But we can't go back!" Peter protested, casting a glance at Strange even as the other two teens openly stared at them both. They obviously haven't missed the change in their proximity or body language as a result of that proximity. "What about the mission?"</p><p>"Peter has a point," Shuri agreed, locking eyes with Toni. "Sure, we've done all we can but how can we be sure it was enough? What is to stop all of our work from being undone the moment we leave?"</p><p>"I am," Strange replied easily, taking a step closer to enforce how voluntary his choice was, to emphasize it. He placed a hand on Toni's shoulder and gave her a smile before looking back up at Shuri with a serious expression. "Tell me what I have to look out for and for how long and I'll do it."</p><p>Once again, the four from the future exchanged telling stares that indicated they might as well be having a private conversation that Stephen was not privy to. And, as since day one, the sorcerer didn't interrupt, didn't mind and didn't complain about being left out in the dark. Toni tried to think of an excuse, tried to figure out what story she could spin to this so Strange doesn't get suspicious or curious enough to seek out Clea in their absence.</p><p>Harley, however, beat her to it. "It would be for the best if you somehow locked out all demonic presences on Earth <em>out</em> of our dimension for about a year and a half. Or even two whole years! It's the safest bet, after all. You're usually busy with Sorcerer Supreme business so you won't generally have the time to worry about some random schmuck. If you just keep everyone out, the future we're trying to prevent won't happen."</p><p>And there was one of the reasons Harley was a must on missions such as this. He can bullshit like this on the spot and he has no shame in doing so. Comes from being a teen, she guessed. She didn't exactly remember any excuses or obscured truths she might have told her parents, if any, given they weren't usually around to gripe at her about it. She was always honest with Jarvis, though. She had never had the heart to lie to him and he would have seen through it in a second. She wasn't sure if she could have successfully lied to Stephen, either. It seems like she never could, even when they only just met at that gala, all those years ago.</p><p>Stephen paused to think about it, looking at Toni hesitantly before nodding. "I'll have to stay in Kamar-Taj for that. And I'll probably have to go to a lot of meetings with the masters of the various dimensions that contain anything that might be defined as a demon to smooth any ruffled feathers, so to say, that such a ban will no doubt cause."</p><p>"Will you get in trouble for doing it?" Peter asked meekly, liking the idea but not liking the thought of the former doctor getting the thick end of the stick for it.</p><p>Thankfully, Strange just snorted, looking even insulted at the mere thought. "Please. I'm the Sorcerer Supreme! They wouldn't dare contest against me. They'll just whine and be annoying until I probably loose my temper - or pretend that I did, if it becomes boring too fast - and then go back to their dimensions and grumble about the unfairness of my existence, like they always do."</p><p>"You're sure you can do this without repercussions?" Shuri probed and Stephen nodded decisively.</p><p>"Of course. Dormammu has captured and conquered many worlds and many different dimensions, or parts of them, anyway. They are all now mine to control and call upon. I have complete jurisdiction on our side of the veil separating the worlds and enough on the other side to persuade them not to make a fuss."</p><p>"You mean you terrify them enough that they won't even dare to try," Toni translated with an arched eyebrow and the man smirked.</p><p>"Exactly. Dormammu was the most powerful of them all. As someone who defeated him, they know I outclass them. They won't risk their comfortable existences because of a slight that they won't even be able to complain about for about two Earth years."</p><p>"Why not just always keep it that way?" Harley couldn't help but ask and Stephen shook his head.</p><p>"The veil must be generally open for the energies to flow through the dimensions correctly. When I do this, I will basically isolate Earth from the rest of the multiverse. The only way for our dimension not to collapse in on itself is if I stay either in Kamar-Taj or the Sanctum Sanctorum so I can let those energies course through me, both into and out of our dimension. As such, I won't be able to get out much and the rest of the potential threats will have to be dealt with by Wong and the others."</p><p>"Can you do it, though? And is it safe? For <em>you</em>, that is. I know you'd never do something to jeopardize the multiverse."</p><p>Stephen regarded her with a warm, sad little smile. "Yes. I can. And no, it won't be dangerous for me. The Eye of Agamotto will help me manage it. But I'll be pretty much out of commission for a long while ... "</p><p>And Toni understood where his hesitance might be coming from. He had said he would wait for her. How will he know if his time of waiting is over or not if he can't even go out to check? How will he know if he missed his opportunity? For all he knows, Toni was from just a couple of months into the future. She <em>does</em> have some wicked powers, as she's been telling him since day one, and they were the kind that he couldn't understand or explain with the parameters of magic and the science of this time that he had available. Strange didn't know that there was a long wait ahead of him. Or he did and he was just being optimistic? Or, the most likely option, he was feeling out the situation, trying to fish out the information none of them had ever mentioned: from which time they came from.</p><p>Toni could only give him a pained smile. Their situation back in 2019 still wasn't solved and the bastard had no right to go making her all hopeful for a better resolution of the situation. She still didn't know what will happen or what <em>had</em> happened before this mess started and actually caused it. "You have time." And wasn't <em>that</em> the most ironic statement of all, considering she will all but declare him the Keeper of the Time Stone. "You won't miss us."</p><p>"I will. Every single day." And his sincerity was only all the more painful. But the teens seemed delighted by the idea that their relationship with the funny doctor has improved so much. They all knew how important he was to Toni. He had been there before all of them except Rhodey, Happy and Pepper. "But I guess it will only make our next meeting all the sweeter." He then surprised them all - though Toni really didn't know why she was surprised at <em>all</em> considering how well she knew him and how used to his antics she was - by taking the Iron Maiden's hand and giving it a polite, gentlemanly and yet adoring kiss. Just next to the Soul Stone. Toni felt a shiver go through her entire being and barely managed to glare at the smugly glinting orange Stone, only for Stephen to steal her attention with what could only be described as a purr. "Until next time, Antonia Carbonell. I'm already looking forward to it." He looked to the teens and nodded at them all in turn, respectful. "Peter Parkerson. Harley Keeners. Shuri N'Dakawa. You keep her safe until I find you."</p><p>Toni gave a halfhearted, feeble "Hey," but didn't let go of his hand until she gave it a gentle, final squeeze before withdrawing. She needed her hand to get back to the future. Wong, Master Hamir and Dr Palmer needed their help. The Stephen of 2019 needed their help. "Until then, Doctor Strange."</p><p>Creating the time-whimey sphere like thing this time around was way easier than the first time. They all quickly suited up and Toni enjoyed the shocked awe that flitted across Strange's face. He had been rather busy running for his life - not really, more like for the sake of his continued secret identity - for him to see the armor spread from Toni's chest not even an hour ago. So he watched now as his four new friends - one of whom he'd confessed to falling in love with not half an hour ago - disappeared in flashes of green light, magic and pure energy, as time swallowed them slowly but surely out of his sight.</p><p>"I'll wait! I'll keep my promise!" Toni heard him say before all that was left of the world was green mists and crackling energies.</p><p>00000</p><p>And Stephen did wait.</p><p>He waited and he searched, for <em>decades</em>, always steadfast, never faltering, never giving up. He was immortal. He didn't age a day. He lived and he searched through all means available to him. From Kamar-Taj, through other dimensions, on whole other <em>planets</em> when thirty years went by after the war and no hints of technology like his four friends' was to emerge. He searched for energy signatures that would match Shuri's, Peter's, Harley's and especially Toni's, but he found what could only be relatives, no exact matches anywhere. Especially for Toni. Her aura was like nothing he had ever seen before and that had nothing to do with the two Stones on her hands or the light in her chest. No, those three kept clashing together, revealing a signature that would have otherwise been masked - unbeknownst to him, the only reason he ever got to see Toni's aura was because the Arc Reactor's energies were clashing with <em>two</em> Infinity Stones; had it been only one, all of it would have been neutralized altogether and he would have never seen the beauty that was deeper than skin-deep - and allowing Stephen to bask in the soul it represented. Stephen wanted to find it again, wanted to gaze upon that beautiful, bright light for the rest of his days.</p><p>No light came. No one even had <em>hints</em> of being related to her. He had no family line to follow. He had no place to observe and wait for the right time, for that <em>right</em> person.</p><p>And yet still he waited.</p><p>He always waited.</p><p>Then, one day, out of virtually nowhere, Howard Stark approached him at one of the charity galas his wife had started hosting not lo g before she fell pregnant just a year previous. According to the newspapers and news reports, the Stark heir was born, a beautiful, healthy girl. Stephen heard her name was Antonia. He had never thought Toni would have impacted the - rather cruel, as they had once started out - couple so much as for them to name their first child after her. The world thought it was after Stark's middle name or a reference to Maria Collins' Italian heritage. Stephen, though, wondered if what he thought was true and it was paying homage to a woman who had changed their lives in a single month. Stephen had never felt this different even after over two centuries of life. Yet just the first few days with Antonia had vastly changed him.</p><p>Either way, Stark had approached him and said he wanted to apologize, rightfully surprising and confusing the Sorcerer Supreme. They had never talked since that day, February 1st 1945. They hadn't even really seen each other since then. Stark had focused on the Manhattan Project and Strange had about two years of withholding demons to do. Now, years later, here was Howard Stark, asking to apologize. What was more, the businessman dragged him along to properly introduce him to his wife. Maria Collins <em>Carbonell</em> Stark. The shapeshifter that had been hunting him. And then, the beautiful woman, who appeared before him in her true form for the first time, quickly maneuvered a wrapped bundle into his arms before Stephen could dissuade her and the 'devil' found himself staring down at the cute sleeping face of what he assumed to be Antonia. Being handed over to someone else jostled the baby out of her peaceful slumber and she started fussing as she opened her eyes to a stranger's face.</p><p>Stephen felt all of the air leaving his lungs. Because the only thing in the entire multiverse that he had seen that could match Antonia Carbonell's beautiful aura were here mesmerizing whiskey colored eyes with a depth and intelligence to them that Strange at times couldn't hope to comprehend. He had never seen eyes like hers anywhere else.</p><p>And now, of all places, he was seeing them in this baby he was holding in his arms. His hand shook, for the first time since he absorbed Dormammu's power, as he traced the little girl's cheek. She squinted at him before releasing a brilliant smile and a bell-like laugh, latching onto his finger as she stared up at him in as much awe and wonder as he beheld for her.</p><p><em>Antonia</em> E. Stark. Antonia <em>Edith</em> Stark. Daughter of Howard Stark and Maria Collins <em>Carbonell</em>.</p><p>Beautiful, intelligent, cunning, witty, clever, stunning, surprising. Kind and caring and merciless and merciful all in one. <em>Antonia</em>.</p><p><em>Toni</em>.</p><p>But there was no way to confirm it. Humans developed their auras only when they start developing their individual personalities. The baby in his arms is only a couple of days old. All that would have made her Antonia hadn't even started developing yet, let alone all those things that made her <em>Toni</em>. But at least he now knew where to look, where to search. Now he knew where to check occasionally.</p><p>Still, it was <em>years</em> before Toni Carbonell's and Toni Stark's auras matched up. Stephen dared not watch over her regularly even from a distance, knowing there were others out there that <em>will</em> know how to figure it out if he was and that they'll no doubt go after this - for the first time - weakness of his to get to him. He showed up to fancy parties, fundraisers, galas and charity events he knew she would probably be at, even when she was still only a child. He saw negligence from her parents, the shapeshifting mother too high on painkillers strong enough to dull the pain of both shifting and not shifting, the father either too busy drinking or too scared to show how much his only daughter meant to him in fear that she will be kidnapped again - he had sought out Strange the first two times she was kidnapped, still an infant of only a few months of life, and Stephen had delivered her back to her parents healthy, safe and sound. He also saw the familial love and adoration shared between one Edwin <em>Jarvis</em> and the littlest Stark. He saw the creepy interactions between her and one Obadiah Stane as well as the often strained relationship with one Agent Margaret Carter, who tried her best with the little girl but was simply absent too much to make any lasting difference. It all shaped Antionia Stark's aura, letting it get some of those traits and features that Stephen had fallen in love with in Toni. And then the Starks and their butler died in a car accident - Stephen was fishy about the lack of detail the autopsies had - and a very young Toni was left with an empire and the world focusing on her. And that was when darkness started creeping into her light, masks being pulled up left and right, her kind heart being put behind impenetrable walls no one had hope of ever breaking. By that point, Stephen was almost ready to give up the possibility Toni Stark was <em>his</em> Toni, no matter how brilliant, how sharp witted or resourceful.</p><p>And then Afghanistan happened and three months later, Toni Stark returned a changed woman, a hole in her walls and in her chest as she shut down the weapons division of Stark Industries due to fearing she had become a part of a system that was okay with zero accountability before she disappeared from the face of the Earth - or more likely the front pages of gossip magazines as well as newspapers - until she reappeared unannounced to crash her own party a couple of months later.</p><p>Stephen was instantly there and her aura was <em>blinding</em>. The walls still haven't been fixed. He could still have a glimpse inside at the wonderful heart and soul behind them and the Sorcerer Supreme selfishly indulged himself. Dr Stark even danced like Toni did. They so easily clicked together that Stephen was beginning to get a bit scared. The aura still wasn't a perfect match to the woman he had fallen in love with. He honestly feared for a while it was going to be as close as it gets, but then it was all over the news. Bulkier than what he had seen and in pieces fit together by the brilliance of a single woman's engineering mind, but still that hot rod red and flashy gold color. Still with that pretty blue light in her chest. He sent flowers even before the words "The truth is ... I am Iron Maiden," were said to the world and he sent another bouquet afterwards, too. The butterflies will keep watch over her, since he had viewed many unhealthy, deeply rooted habits in Toni's behavior in the month he had personally known her. They seemed to brighten her day, too, whenever he decided to check in on her and he found her with the two magical butterflies.</p><p>The aura became nearly identical for only a few hours before he could no longer make it out, which he will admit had scared the shit out of him. He hadn't cared who found out about his existence, he needed to make sure the worst hasn't happened, only to find that familiar energy that always came from Toni's chest now masked Stark's completely. He had no doubt anymore, if any had been left at all after Iron Maiden was born. He couldn't watch the development of her aura after that, not until Thanos and all the Infinity Stones were snugly on her hands, for the first time revealing all the changes that had happened since 2010. It was identical, down to the last specks of energy. Toni Carbonell was <em>Toni Stark</em>. He could say it with an infinite percentage of security. It was her.</p><p>And he could finally hold her, kiss her and love her how he had always wanted, how he had <em>yearned</em> for since his wait began.</p><p>A year of bliss later, trouble came knocking. Quite literally. Clea just knocked on his door while he was waiting for Toni to finish up her business and then come to Kamar-Taj for a bit of rest and relaxation, intent on copulating with him like he had indulged himself little since Toni and the teens left. Clea had been as kept out of their dimension as every other even remotely demonic entity. When she could finally come back, she had raged at him and had called Toni every vulgar name under the sun until Strange had snapped and threatened her about ever approaching Toni again. Her actions in Bern still pissed him off, especially when he remembered those last seconds before Toni had used the Space Stone's powers - from a distance, no less, and despite her aversion to Tesseract created portals - and how he had feared Toni would get hurt when Clea hurled the attack at them. He made sure the woman never comes across Toni ever again. He was rather cold with her, always just getting her off with his fingers if she came to fulfill that part of their old deal. He no longer felt any real companionship towards her, which he knew was driving her crazy. Stephen was weary of her presence now. He hadn't seen her since 2008. Not since he had first 'solid' proof that Toni was back. He had given her enough energy to sustain her physical body but hadn't wanted anything in return.</p><p>Turns out, Clea was having none of that this time around. She sent the Cloak through a portal before he could react and straddled his lap a second later, pushing her lips against his. But the moment Stephen called on his power to shove her off of him, something clamped around his very being and <em>pulled</em>. Clea only watched with a nasty grin on her face as he felt his life energy leaving him. He was still far from helpless, calling on his power even as it strangled a cry of pain from him. The demoness panicked a little when he lunged for her but he was already weakened enough for her to bind him, pinning him to his place on the couch with her in his lap. The only thing on his mind was Toni even as he blacked out from the constant pull.</p><p>He didn't know when he had closed his eyes, but they snapped open, not a full day later, to behold a cackling Clea as she took Christine? - what the hell was <em>she</em> doing here?! - by the throat and dangled her a few inches above ground while the Cloak of Levitation, back from wherever the demoness had sent it, was fighting two Mindless Ones. Stephen had no idea what was going on but he noted he felt a lot better, even though his skin was clammy and his hands were actually shaking as power surged back through him. The searing pain of his being being pulled apart was like a distant memory, like it had never happened.</p><p>He stood up, calling the Eye of Agamotto into being around his neck and sending a whiplash of power throughout Kamar-Taj as he felt more Mindless Ones. He was surprised to find the amulet empty of the Infinity Stone he has been protecting for the past year. But he had no time to even contemplate it as he felt a change in the flow of energies of the universe and he couldn't help but grin, which only widened when Clea was thrown back and the Mindless Ones stopped dead in their track.</p><p>Oh yeah, they were back in business.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>Toni wasn't sure how she felt about dropping out of a magical time right into the middle of a magical battle between magic wielding sorcerers and magical demons that come from an evil dimension her (ex?) boyfriend controlled, but she sure as hell didn't want to go through that shit again. But she knew she was <em>definitely</em> relieved when a wave of energy swept through Kamar-Taj in its entirety and the Time Stone pulsed in excitement, eager to go back to its Keeper. Toni may be its Chosen Contender of awesome future destiny of whatever but the green Stone had obviously found itself attached to the <em>strange</em> immortal that now guarded it. The genius could only shake her head as she watched the fight stop as though a switch had been flipped, the gruesome creatures from the Dark Dimension ceasing their attacks and just standing there like stringless puppets, awaiting orders from their master. Toni felt something in her shrivel and die when she passed by one and picked up the cold void that had once been a soul, the Soul Stone protesting at the proximity of something so <em>unnatural</em>.</p><p>Either way, it would seem their mission was successful. Strange seemed to be alright if he was already taking back the reigns.</p><p>A moment later, the dimension that Wong, Master Hamir, Christine and the Cloak were trapped in dissolved and a familiar sparkling portal opened in mid air. Out stepped the Sorcerer Supreme in all of his might and glory, the Cloak happily flapping about ob his shoulders and rubbing his face in relief at its chosen master's good health, Palmer walking through a lot more confidently behind him while he dragged a magically bound and gagged struggling Clea, now in her true unearthly beautiful form, kicking and screaming to get away. Stephen seemed to be in much of a <em>quid pro quo</em> mood, taking great delight in tying her up like she had him not a day earlier.</p><p>And it <em>had</em> been only a day, hadn't it? Sure, Toni had managed to return them a good thirteen hours, five minutes and forty three seconds later than when they had left, but the date was the same so she counted it as a win. Especially considering this was the first time she used <em>magic</em> at all, not counting the actual first trip to the past. That part was even easy, all things considered. Returning was the hard part but they had made it. She was a bit disoriented with the knowledge that she had lived a month for a bit over half a day but at least Harley didn't hurl his guts out- <em>aaand</em> she spoke too soon. At least Master Hamir seemed to have been anticipating that considering he opened a portal almost fast enough to catch all the puke before it reached the floors. The little that did Wong cleaned out with a wave of his hand and a disgruntled look on his face. She guessed they had every right to be a bit prickly, given they had probably been fighting the Mindless Ones for who knows how long. Talk about a rough day.</p><p><em>'And to think I had thirty of those in the same amount of time,'</em> she snorted and shook her head. It's really not a good idea to go comparing traumas. They'd all be even <em>more</em> traumatized by the time they all took a turn.</p><p>"Stephen," Wong greeted, face showing just hints of the relief he felt at having the tall man back to his old invincible self. "I see you're not dead. I'm taking that as a win, Toni." He nodded to the woman, who could only nod a bit numbly. Toni felt <em>exhausted</em>. She missed home. She missed Rhodey and Pepper and Happy. She missed the rare peaceful moments with her parents, those rare dinners they'd all go out of their way to attend even though none of them really understood any of that. Toni now wondered at her mother's religious views now that she knew what she did. Was it an act? Was it reverting to a past role? Or was she nagging, like she had said all mothers are wont to do at their children? Toni wanted to know. She <em>desperately</em> wanted to know. It wasn't fair that she couldn't find out. She missed Jarvis. She wanted to go back to the days where he'd read her quantum physics papers and books on aerodynamics and math theories to put her to bed. She couldn't help but wonder had it been <em>her</em> that had asked for those titles or had her parents never known what kind of books a child should have. Toni never liked fairy tales. The endings were far too unrealistic. She much more preferred physics theories and mathematical equations or molecule formations before bed. Those were at least real.</p><p>Then again, so was magic, but she figured fairy tale magic didn't match Stephen's, Wong's, Master Hamir's and the other sorcerers' magic. Or Loki's. Or Wanda's. Or Clea's. Or Mephisto's. Damn, she knew too many magic users.</p><p>"I'm taking it Toni had something to do with my ... well being?" He asked, even as the teens cheered when they realized the former neurosurgeon was truly alright. "And, of course, all of you." The teens beamed at him. Even the still queasy looking Harley gave him a halfhearted thumbs up before running off to find the nearest bathroom to loose the test of his dinner. "Can someone please explain, though?"</p><p>"First, we check you over," the eldest looking sorcerer stated firmly and Stephen sighed but seemed resigned to his fate as he went to sit on the same couch he had been found on. He actually jumped away in fright when Toni and Harley fired their repulsors at it, Shuri her Vibranium shooters and Peter his exploding webs before Master Hamir turned whatever was left into particles of burning ash and Wong portaled it away into the vacuum of space. "Oops." They all said when Strange gave them incredulous looks. To be certain, the Cloak even swept away whatever particles of the couch might have been left behind and threw them out of the window. Once it was done, it settled back around Stephen's shoulders and ignored the incredulous look the Sorcerer Supreme gave it and the rest of them. He opened his mouth to say something but Toni just glared at him.</p><p>"Just allow it, Strange."</p><p>He immediately clicked his mouth shut and nodded dumbly, sitting down on one of the armchairs while eyeing them intensely, as though expecting the same reaction. When he deemed it safe, he sat down and allowed Master Hamir to do whatever magical tests he wanted, keen green eyes watching them all with interest. Toni tried to ignore how those eyes naturally stayed on her longer than others and strayed to her even when he was asked to pay attention to the matter at hand. He easily followed Master Hamir's instructions and accomplished the magical feats asked of him. Toni almost joined Dr Palmer in her screech of panic and the attack that would have surely followed when Hamir asked Stephen to create a dark hole right then and there. That was <em>not</em> something she had known he could do! Were there no limits to his power!?</p><p><em>'No wonder Clea wants it all to herself.'</em> Toni had never imagined a single person could be that powerful. Thanos ... Thanos seemed like a <em>child</em> in comparison! Stark couldn't believe the type of tragedy and catastrophe they had just <em>narrowly</em> managed to avoid.</p><p>"Well, he seems to be fine. No traces of anything at all happening to him. It's just as though he had only went to sleep and woke up a day later. He will be fine." A general sigh of relief went through the room and Toni was probably the one leading it. She hesitated, reaching for the Time Stone, only to stop. She ... She couldn't deal with this right now. She needed ... She needed <em>air</em>.</p><p>"Can someone please explain <em>now</em>?"</p><p>Toni knew Strange was looking at her but she couldn't find the words. Instead, she waved halfheartedly at Peter and rushed out of the room, out into the open to try and fill her lungs with oxygen. The cool air and the wonderful scent of mountains, old books and incense had her slowly calming down, just as it had the first night she had inhaled it at the party that was essentially the birth of Iron Maiden. It only dawned on her <em>now</em> just how essential Stephen was in her life. Had she not calmed down that night (thanks to him, something she had only realized at a much later date), had she not avoided Coulson with his help, had she just left the party like she would have done had she experienced a full blown heart attack, she would have never met with Christine Everheart and she would have never learned about Gulmira and she never would have become Iron Maiden. In a way, Strange was as responsible for the birth of Iron Maiden and freeing her from the constraints society had tried to chain her with. He was Team Iron Maiden all the way. And that's why it still hurt and why it still has her conflicted about whether she wants to hear Strange's side of the story. She feared the answer. It <em>terrified</em> her. Because, while she has started doubting what she had seen due to how incomplete the picture was, there was still the horrifying possibility that it <em>was</em> true, what she had seen. She doesn't want to live in a world where that might be the truth.</p><p>Not when she had just lost her parents for the second time.</p><p>Not when she had just let one of her friends run off to his own death the day after she had left the past when she could have saved him. <em>And</em> saved her parents from their fate. Maybe.</p><p>"You okay?" Toni nearly jumped out of her skin at the (un) expected question from a rather expected source, looking sharply to her left, where Stephen stood, arms crossed over his chest, casually looking up at the looming form of Mount Everest and letting her gather herself. When she didn't say anything, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, gaze as sharp as she ever knew it. Toni didn't know why it was such a relief to see this Stephen looking so healthy when she had been seeing him just fine for a month already. She didn't know why it felt like she was seeing him for the first time in his full strength after a long time. She didn't want to think about why it meant so much to her to see that for herself. All Toni knew for certain was that she had missed that knowing glint in Stephen's eyes as he regarded her like no one else. She was glad it was back. The Strange of the past had been an interesting experience as he tried to figure out how to deal with the full force of nature that was Toni Stark but the Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange that had helped her through becoming Iron Maiden was the one she appreciated the most. Especially as he knew how to deal with her. "You don't have to hide from me, Toni."</p><p>"Why wouldn't I be?" She fired back, not ready to talk about this. About <em>any</em> of it. Least of all with Stephen. Not until she decides whether she wants to take this risk. She'd taken it once before, when she put their unique relationship on the line just so they could be more and this is how it had turned out. One year of bliss potentially destroyed when she found Stephen (<em>potentially</em>) with another woman.</p><p>"Well, a lot of things happened, from what I understand." And now Toni was wondering how long she had been out here if the others had had the time to brief the man on everything.</p><p>-About an hour, Sir.-</p><p><em>'Thanks, J.'</em> Toni then rolled her eyes and scuffed at her boyfriend(?). "No shit, Sherlock. Try not to fuck up this badly next time."</p><p>"Hm. Well, even if I did, I will always have you there to watch my back and fix my mess."</p><p>And, for some reason, that just ticked her off. Stark whirled around to properly face the 'devil', eyes burning with the power of Extremis, showing off her rage as the past twenty four hours/one month flashed through her mind. All that shit she'd went through and all Strange could say was he expected her to clean up his mess!? "Okay, just who the <em>fuck</em> do you think you are, exactly?! Because I don't know what delusions of glamour you have, but here's a wake up call. What makes you so special to think I will settle for your shit? You're not the only man in the fucking universe. You're not the only sorcerer, you're not the only doctor, you're not the only one who can put up with me, though I'll admit that's still a fucking super power. However that does not entitle you to think you can consider me your fucking universal house maid!"</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Stephen asked, a frown appearing on his face. Toni noted his hands were clenching his upper arms but he still didn't turn to fully face her. That only pissed her off more, clenching her own fists until her nails were biting her skin almost hard enough to bleed. "I've never treated you like that. If anything, I always appreciate whatever clean up you <em>do</em> end up doing if it is in any way related to me or the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. I would never abuse your consistent need to fix everything to appease whatever sense of guilt that always unnecessarily haunts you. I'm not the <em>Avengers</em>." He spat the word out like poison, reminding Toni of how many times he had actually badgered her to leave the superhero team because they were taking advantage of her guilt about her weapons days.</p><p>That still wasn't enough to quench the raging fire that was her anger. She knew it was irrational, she knew she had promised herself to look at all of this from the outside, but she was finding that to be infinitely harder when looking the sorcerer in the eyes. "Your mess. You clean it up. You face the consequences."</p><p>"As it has always been, since the day I became the Sorcerer Supreme. Since I became a doctor." Well, he probably had a point there, too. And he knew it, too, the damned bastard. What she really hated was the worry that was seeping into his eyes. "Toni, please tell me what's wrong? Why are you pushing me away? I don't know what I did to offend you. I-"</p><p>And Toni saw the exact second that realization dawned on him. He didn't curse. He didn't go as pale as a sheet. He didn't start sweating. No, that was below Stephen Strange in every way. But Toni could still see when realization set. The light in his eyes disappeared and a dangerous darkness started lurking in its place. And that was perhaps even more frightening than his immense powers. The way the shadows started twisting at his will was nothing in comparison to the dark look in his eyes as he realized what had happened. Stark wondered why she wasn't stepping back. Anyone with even an iota of self preservation instincts would have already been running the other way. Instead, she stood her ground and basked in the darkness settling over the possibly most powerful being of the multiverse. It was what had drawn him to her in the first place, being different from everyone else. And the attraction and the reason behind it was mutual.</p><p>"Oh." That was all he ended up saying, not bothering to give any more in reply to his epiphany. Which was frustrating in and of itself.</p><p>"Oh," Toni echoed sarcastically. She couldn't help it. It was stronger than her. Once upon a time, she had done it on purpose in order to drive him away, in order to hide all of her weaknesses, to hide behind her masks that protected her from the world as much as her armor did. Now, she guessed she had used it unconsciously as a defense. She wouldn't even be surprised. It wouldn't be the first time she had attempted to drive him away using this method. It had never worked. Not for long. Even after their first ever truly serious fight.</p><p>"You saw," was the bland continuation of that thought and Toni felt her heart break like an old Min Dynasty vase as it registered in her brain. <em>You saw.</em> Practically an admission that there <em>was </em>something there that Toni shouldn't have seen. All her hopes that Strange was an unwilling participant and that Clea had forced him when she had a drop on him were blown away. She had her answers now, or at least she had some of them. It would seem there was indeed reason to her fear of learning them. "Toni?"</p><p>Strange was right there, a couple of steps away from her, and yet Stark registered his words as though coming from underwater. Or was it her that was underwater and he was speaking from above? She sure felt like she was sinking into the deepest pit in the ocean, everything was becoming darker, Strange's voice was getting more and more distant, she felt like she couldn't breathe, her lungs constricting-</p><p>And before she knew it, she was blasting off in the suit, up high in the sky, flying at supersonic speed away from Kamar-Taj, away from Everest and Nepal, away from Asia ... Away from <em>Stephen</em>.</p><p>"Toni!" Said sorcerer yelled at the top of his lungs and was just barely heard over her repulsors, the rushing blood in her ears and the whipping wind.</p><p>Iron Maiden didn't look back.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>The genius arrived at her Tower a good hour and a half later, out of breathe and a migraine in the works as she landed on her terrace. It had been a long but smooth flight and she had managed to stop panicking about ten minutes in but she had only stopped <em>crying </em>of all things twenty minutes before landing. She guessed she had the rights to have a mental, emotional, stressed out breakdown after the day/month she just had, not to mention all that shit beforehand she had went to Kamar-Taj to avoid. Toni just couldn't have <em>one</em> normal day, could she? It says a great deal about her life that she's not surprised by it in the least.</p><p>She let the suit retract back into the Arc Reactor, running a hand through her hair only to grimace when a few strands got a bit caught on something. The scowl only worsened when she brought her right hand down and saw that she still had the second Gauntlet on her hand, the Time Stone still in place instead of where it has been for the last year, inside the Eye of Agamotto on Strange's chest. It didn't seem in any particular hurry to go back, probably just sitting there and waiting to see what Toni will do. Both it and the Soul Stone were pulsing cautious comfort and Toni almost lost her grimace altogether. They were two of six of the most powerful semi-sentient things in all of existence and had seen infinite amounts of things and yet they had empathy towards her and her relationship problems.</p><p>Then again, given who and what she is, to them and for the multiverse at large, perhaps even the smallest of her problems were a big deal to them.</p><p>Either way, they reminded her a bit too much of her AIs when they got all worried like this, which made it practically impossible to be angry or annoyed with them. For being so old and so powerful, holding the secrets of ... <em>everything</em> at the tips of their proverbial fingers, they could at times act as innocent as children. The Time Stone less so, probably because it had access to <em>all</em> of time. She wondered if it had access to the time of those other versions of their world, even though there had been three different Time Stones in the same place at the same time when they were visiting Vice Sorcerer Supreme Stark.</p><p><em>'Perhaps now is not the time to ponder that,'</em> Toni mused to herself as she stepped into the kitchen/bar/living room on her floor, asking FRIDAY on an update regarding the time they were gone. The female AI pulled up all the news and security feeds of the past day and the billionaire let out a relieved sigh when it turned out everything was relatively fine. Rogers had bitched a bit at Fury at Toni's continued 'association' with the Sorcerer Supreme, quoting how unstable and dangerous they were separately, let alone together. She found it fascinating that he seemed undetermined as to who was corrupting whom. It was almost hilarious. <em>'As if we've ever been any different. We only hid it from the world until it became obvious we no longer could.'</em> And that had her thinking of her parents again. Had they been in the same situation as her and Strange were? Had they hid, both their good sides and their bad, until it was needed or inevitable? <em>'JARVIS, go back into all those files on my parents from the SHIELDRA data dump. I think we might have overlooked quite a few things.'</em></p><p>-As you wish, Sir. One moment, please.-</p><p>Toni left her AI to work, scrolling through some news feeds before shutting it all down, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she realized she had a certain Winter Soldier lounging on her sinfully, illegally comfy - or so she has been told - couch, deeply engrossed in some of the books Peter and Harley tended to leave lying around. She doubted Barnes would like her own literature preferences, given she prefers science over fiction, thank you very much. As though she needs any more monsters, gods, aliens and magic in her life than she already had on a daily basis. Looking at James, though, Toni could understand why he might want some fiction. Reality had often been worse to him than any horror story and more surreal than any fiction. She could relate.</p><p><em>'I have too many friends who lived through similar shit like I did.'</em> She decided, still contemplating James' relaxed posture and calm disposition. He was utterly at ease here, without a single care in the world. He was never like that at the Avengers Compound, where Rogers and his merry band of misfits resided. Toni took it as a point of pride that he felt he could relax around her. They had started off rough but had somehow ended up being friends. Unlike Rogers, he didn't look at her and be disappointed that she wasn't Howard. Even after the ordeal she had just went through, Toni still felt a pang of bitterness whenever the thought occurred to her. She had far surpassed her father. The time for comparisons was over. Still, now that she though about it, she knew there was something <em>odd</em> about Barnes never even once showing her disrespect in any form, never once looking at her with scorn or disappointment. He looked on at her in fond wonder, he was always eager to learn something new. They'd become somewhat friends during his sessions. In the past year, he nearly made it to Rhodey's level. That was saying something.</p><p>Rogers hated the future he woke up in and as such could never quite take Toni even in small doses. She was the future. The whole planet knew it. Hell, even <em>Wakanda</em> with its super advanced technology had to admit what she could do with a box of scraps was phenomenal. Toni knew that. She agreed with that. Anyone who doubted that usually regretted being made a believer.</p><p>Barnes never hated the future, even though the past seventy years have been a bigger hell for him than they ever could have been for Rogers. He saw all the advancements, all the achievements and he thought them amazing. He thought Toni was amazing. And he never compared her to Howard, which was always a big bonus in her mind.</p><p>That, however, didn't explain some things. And there were plenty of things Toni wanted explained. And she had no plans of beating around the bush.</p><p>"I thought I fucking told you trains were dangerous." She enjoyed the way he yelped and nearly jumped out of his skin, ending up sprawled on her soft carpet with the shit scared out of him. Him, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, the top assassin, the Winter Soldier, HYDRA's greatest weapon, scared out of his wits by a petite brunette, one admittedly more dangerous than him in ways the world could still not comprehend but it wasn't like she was going to turn super villain all of a sudden. It would be way too easy to take over the world and Pepper was already too busy running SI for her for Toni to dump a planet in her, admittedly very capable, hands.</p><p>"Jeez Louise, Toni! Don't do that! You could have triggered the Soldier!" She snorted at that, offended. BARF was working miracles for Barnes. The Winter Soldier condition was almost completely uprooted at this point, which was why their latest BARF sessions was all about trying to help James remember his life before his accident and imprisonment in HYDRA. One thing was for sure, though, and that's that the Winter Soldier would never be so easily triggered again. Maybe under extreme continuous exposure to duress, sure, but never by a single word or phrase, never again by a simple too loud noise. He pretty much now had only the standard PTSD now. They were PTSD buddies. <em>'And fuck my life for having that at all.'</em></p><p>"Don't insult me. Besides, I can take him if he comes out. I'd just put him to sleep with a sedative and wait for you to wake up. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."</p><p>James snorted this time, unimpressed and unconvinced. "I think the Soldier would rather run than fight you. He's not suicidal or emotionless enough to not fear the consequences of <em>that</em>," he points at the pendant still hanging around Toni's neck and she cursed herself for not taking it off. She just couldn't bring herself to, even though it was clear things between her and Strange were pretty much over. "Going off and pissing your boyfriend off. Only a complete idiot would antagonize that man, I swear."</p><p>"So Rogers and his group." She said with an agreeing nod.</p><p>James didn't even deny it. He knew it was true. He went to retort with something further on the topic, only to suddenly freeze, no doubt only now registering Toni's 'greeting'. She watched as he gaped, trying to piece the information together and nearly snickered out loud when he simply stared at her, flabbergasted as it all fell in its rightful place. "Oh my god," was all he could say. Toni just smirked, feeling her mood lifting a bit. "Oh my fucking god!"</p><p>"Yeah, sorry for tricking my father into punching you. I needed a distraction."</p><p>"Antonia Carbonell. You're Antonia fucking Carbonell! Oh my god, how didn't I see it before?!" Toni frowned as she watched James freaking out a bit. Then again, considering the number of breakdowns she'd had in just the past twenty four hours (thirty days), she could understand and she had no place to judge. "I mean, you <em>looked</em> like her, I always thought so, since I - the Soldier - first saw you hit your teens and you being Iron Maiden and your eyes going all Christmas lights should have been clue enough but it never even <em>occurred</em> to me to make the connection because you never had this ... this underlining <em>sadness</em> in your eyes-" He paused in his rant, eyeing Toni up and down even as she arched an eyebrow at him remembering <em>her</em> but not his best friend from childhood. Well, she <em>had</em> made quite an impression, after all. "Not until now." Toni barely hid a flinch at that. Barnes saw it anyway. "What <em>happened</em>?"</p><p>"You remembered me?" She asked instead of replying, both out of curiosity and because she didn't want to talk about the shit storm she had just braved. Or the one she was attempting to brave in this very moment. "I thought the Winter Soldier conditioning whipped your memories after every mission."</p><p>"They did. Some impressions still stayed. Like how there was this gorgeous, badass singer Howard was leaving behind just to clock me one in the middle of an undercover mission in some fancy dance hall or something. The memory cleared out the more we repressed the conditioning. Now stop avoiding the question and tell me how you are Antonia Carbonell-" And he stopped again, connecting all the dots and cursing like a sailor while Toni actually laughed at that. "Damn it. I'm a real idiot."</p><p>The genius billionaire just smirked. "Don't kick yourself over it. It worked on Hank Pym and he considers himself the smartest person in the world-" They both snorted at that. Pym had an ego on him to outweigh Toni, Strange before losing his hands, Loki, Thor and even Howard Stark and the Red Skull. Not quite big enough to add Thanos on the list, but close enough. "So you're not that bad."</p><p>"But I was <em>there</em> when you constructed that cover," whined the former HYDRA assassin.</p><p>Toni just shrugged. "Hiding in plain sight is always the best course of action when you want to avoid detection." Toni knew the best way to keep anything secret is to let the public assume and decide what was and what wasn't. Her mask of arrogant genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist was constructed more by the public than any real effort on her end.</p><p>James nodded at that, no doubt having utilized the same method in one of his numerous missions. "Still doesn't answer my question. Was the Strange you were hanging out with the present Strange or the Strange of the past? He sure was acting possessive of you, but I never could quite get a good read on that guy."</p><p>"Strange always acted possessive of me. That was nothing new in our relationship." It actually varied whether it was better or worse after they started dating. There were days he was completely cool and then there were days when he'd leave enough hickeys on her neck that some of them still managed to show for <em>hours</em> despite Extremis. It irritated Rogers and, more often than not, Fury, so Toni allowed it. But those days were gone now, weren't they?</p><p>"<em>Still</em> doesn't answer my question. Does it have something to do with that crazy lady that threw me off like she was some sort of she-Hulk?"</p><p>"Sort of. Let's just say she got Strange in some trouble and the only way to fix it was to travel back in time and prevent it from happening in the first place." And, predictably, James looked <em>horrified</em> of the thought of <em>anything</em> being able to mess shit up where the Sorcerer Supreme was concerned. Toni didn't blame him for the panicked fear in his eyes. She had felt it, too. Knew what it was like. Clea had very nearly shaken up the entire multiverse with her failed attempt at getting Strange's position and that feat alone was already <em>terrifying</em>. Strange was immortal, invincible and horrendously powerful. Seeing him so casually opening a black hole had only cemented how frighteningly strong he actually was. For Clea to have managed it, in <em>any</em> form ... "She had help. Someone more powerful than her created a spell that used Strange's own powers against him. He was in a bad way for a while. He's back to his all powerful self now."</p><p>"Time travel, huh? <em>Damn</em>. You know, when I first entered this shit, the strangest thing I dealt with was a guy with a literal red skull and some sort of pixie dust flavored serum that had somehow turned a squirt into, well, whatever Stevie is today," he groused, annoyed. "But today, I find out there are wizards strong enough to practically shake skies, move planets and rip open dimensions or whatever other weird-ass shit. And that's ignoring literal gods, green rage monsters, sentient robots, aliens and mad scientists capable of bringing the world to its knees by virtue of brains alone. I think I prefer crazy ol' Red Skull over all of this crap any day."</p><p>"You forgot about enhanced and superpowered people, mutants, Inhumans, secret agencies, rocks of infinity power, AIs, talking trees and raccoons, secret super advanced countries with crazy cat people, space whales and shrinking-growing people."</p><p>"And don't forget their ants. Lang loves his ants." They both regarded each other before snickering like school kids. It felt good. "So, how did time travel look like?"</p><p>Stark shrugged, sitting on the couch as the supersoldier got up off the floor. "The Time Stone took care of most of that. The kids and I just did our best not to stick out too much."</p><p>"As far as I remember, you were a stage singer that rocked the world of all the men present and scandalized their girls at the same time. You were also the undoubtedly most beautiful woman at that ball I last saw you at. Did you leave that night? Because I never found anything else on Antonia Carbonell and SSR files on you mysteriously <em>disappeared</em> some time after that."</p><p>Toni went to answer but paused at that tidbit of information. She hadn't known there were anymore files on her than what FRIDAY had already set on fire, which was mostly about Strange, anyway. "My parents must have gotten rid of anything that would put me in a difficult position in the future. And yeah, we left about an hour or so after escaping the party. Clea was wrecking chaos in Kamar-Taj and we thought the sorcerers might need out help."</p><p>James just shook his head. "I always thought Steve had a way of attracting trouble but you and Strange are beating his record."</p><p>"He's a three hundred year old immortal and I'm Iron Maiden. We live to exceed all expectations."</p><p>The other just snorted at that. "Okay, so you went back in time and saved your boyfriend's ass. What surprises me, though, is his current absence. I thought he'd not want to leave your side after all that crap." He must have noticed the way she stiffened because he cursed under his breath. "Shit. You guys got into a fight, didn't you? I hope it's not as bad as the last one." At her continued blank face and tense posture, he cursed again. "Worse? Should I expect an angry magic man to come storming the Tower any second now? Cause I don't want to be here when he goes off the rails and doesn't let you go for the rest of your lives, literally gluing you to his hip. I think he might just kill me on principle alone. Or turn me into one of his Brainless Ones or whatever his servants of doom are called." When he noticed she was giving him an odd look, he defensively asked "What?"</p><p>"Why would you think he'd come storming in here?"</p><p>Bucky looked at her as though she was stupid. "Uh, because the guy is crazy about you, loves you so much he'd sacrifice the universe for you and would kill anyone and destroy anything that might do you harm? I mean, the man's not exactly subtle about it. It's actually really scary, what he'd be ready to do for you. I mean, Stevie and I have all that end of the line going, but you guys? You guys are the 'beyond infinity, after eternity' type."</p><p>"And what would you say, hypothetically, if one of us cheated?" She dared him and James paused, considering both his answer and her.</p><p>"I'd say I pity whoever was the side-dish because the other one would kill them and I'd say a good shouting match, a romp in the sheets and a peaceful day spent watching Netflix would probably set you back on track because I <em>doubt</em> there is any way one of you would cheat unless it was non-consensual, unwilling, forced, coerced, blackmailed or something along those lines. Seriously, Toni, what's going on? Are you okay? Do you think Doc cheated on you? I'm asking you, as a friend and a concerned senior citizen-" Toni couldn't help but snort at that, no matter how shell-shocked she was by his faith in her and Strange's relationship. "That you talk it out with the man. The guy practically worships the ground you walk on. The chances of him cheating on you? I'd say it's minus infinity. You mean too much to him for him ever to risk losing you because of a side piece. Just think about that before you give up on what you guys have built over the years. A relationship like yours ... I've never seen something like it. It would be a shame to let something that beautiful destroyed without at least <em>trying</em> to preserve it. If in no other form than friendship, then that's fine, too. But don't just ... Throw it away. Or else you'll regret it for the rest of your life." He paused, seeing Toni want to say something but hesitating at the last second, so he just reached over and squeezed her hand in comfort with his metal one, the one she had built for him herself and was more comfortable with - always more comfortable with machines than humans. "Just think about, okay? You deserve happiness. You can't just go searching for the first excuse not to have it."</p><p>That struck a chord, hard. Toni hadn't even considered the option as to why she didn't want to talk it out with Stephen. She had taken the first hint that something may have happened and took it as definite and sufficient proof as to why they should just end it all. Which was completely unlike her. Toni Stark was a scientist through and through. Not just a mechanic, not just an engineer, not just a creator. She ran all kinds of experiments to test her theories as well as her creations. She had run every known sentience test on JARVIS that the world had thought up, in both science and fiction, more times than either AI or creator had bothered to count just to make sure she had really done it. She had searched for every clue that Barnes was either innocent or guilty until what was the truth swam up to the surface. She questioned all there was to question about Wakanda. She and JARVIS ran numerous simulations on the Starkenium core for the Arc Reactor, before and after the fight with Vanko and then compared it countless times with Vibranium until she had a clear idea as to which metal was superior in which situation.</p><p>She never gave up, either. She had been practically held at gun point in a godforsaken cave, surrounded by her weapons and terrorists intent on using them on the rest of the world. She had been dying of heavy metal poisoning and a part of her was still fighting for her legacy. She had seen a battle almost impossible to win and had yet flown a nuke through a wormhole into the deep darkness of space regardless how hopeless that situation might have seemed. She survived. She came back. Her whole <em>house</em> fell on her, she dragged her suit all by herself through snow on subzero temperatures in nothing but a T-shirt. She saved hundreds of lives when SHIELD fell, she had a whole fucking <em>city</em> fall on top of her just to save the rest of the world from Sokovia's fate. She fought two supersoldiers and she stood before Thanos, ready to fight with her life on the line more so than ever before, all her teammates defeated behind her and almost no strength left in her despite the enhancements from Extremis. She had went back through <em>time</em>, for fuck's sake, just because she refused to lose, because she never gave up. She couldn't. It went against everything in her to take a beating lying down. She fought until she couldn't fight anymore and then some.</p><p>So why was she so willing to give up on Strange, to not let him at least present her with his side of the story so she can properly deduce what's going on?</p><p>Was James right? Was she ... taking this as a chance to run from happiness because she was still so sure she didn't deserve it? When had she made that decision? In fact, hadn't she promised herself to have Strange explain himself regarding what had happened? So why had she ran away? Since <em>when</em> does <em>Toni Stark</em> run away?! She went through the gates of Hell and back - quite literally, too - to find a way to save him! Why was she giving up <em>now</em>? Why was she <em>running away</em>!? Why, when she <em>still</em> loved him? Why, when it was obvious he was still ready to fight fir her?</p><p><em>'This has </em>got<em> to </em>stop<em>. I'm not a coward. I don't run away.'</em> She hadn't ran when Thanos was ready to obliterate her, his greatest obstacle, so she sure as hell won't run <em>now</em>.</p><p>"Please tell me that scary, determined look is you deciding to work this out with Strange and not you mulishly deciding never to talk to the man again and that then somehow ends up biting me in the ass because I tried to give you a pep talk," Barnes all but pleaded and Stark snorts. She doesn't enlighten him and instead just walks away, letting him sweat.</p><p>After all, she can always tell him all about it <em>after</em> she and Stephen brave through this storm.</p></div></div></div>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
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<p></p><div><p>The skies were gray and somber as the clouds let out tiny prattles of light rain, matching the mood on a practically deserted necropolis of granite stones and alabaster statues of weeping angels and snarling gargoyles. The only sound other than the constant, rhythmic platter of light raindrops were the wails of a weeping violin as a beautiful, sad melody was masterfully played by a lone figure in front of three humble gravestones. Two bore the same name. All three adorned the same date of death. All three had a beautiful bouquet of flowers, white lilies, resting against the headstone.</p><p>All three were sorely missed.</p><p>Even after twenty long years, her fingers have not forgotten how to stroke the strings, her hand and arm still moving as gracefully as ever as she produced an almost heartbreaking song. Even after twenty long years, she has not lost her touch, she still remembered every piece she had ever played, remembered every tune and was able to execute it with perfect, graceful precision. Even after twenty long years, even after the earth before her has truly leveled out with the rest of the walking ground, she wanted to do her best, to impress and cause pride in the three people these songs were meant for.</p><p>Toni had been at it for hours. She had come this morning, a dusty but perfectly cared for case in her hands, her violin polished and tuned for the first time in two decades, only a light coat over her shoulders to protect her from the cool weather and the light rain. She had brought flowers, awkwardly placing them against the tombstones and cleared off any dirt from the names, stroking them longingly with a lump in her throat and tears glistening in her eyes. She couldn't speak, no matter how many words she had to say. They were there, at the tip of her tongue, just waiting to be released. And yet the words refused to come and so Toni had just stood up from her crouch and took out her violin. She had been hesitant to make the first stroke, knowing it had been a long time, knowing old memories will surface and that they will shatter her heart all over again. But she had known she needed this. She had needed it for a very long time and she had been denying herself this release as much as she was attempting to deny herself happiness now with the man she loved. She could still not face him, that much she knew. Not until she let go of all of her ghosts, no matter how much she wanted to stubbornly hold on to them. She can't look towards the future until she accepts her past and finally lets go of it all.</p><p>It was time for the Futurist to stop looking back. She has learned her lessons, she has taken the educational message out of them and she has changed accordingly while still remaining Toni Stark.</p><p>No more going backwards.</p><p>Rhodey had wanted to be there for her, as had Pepper and Happy. Vision had offered. She had almost taken him up on it. Had almost allowed the kids - returned home through the magical doorway in the Sanctum - to come with her, given they had been a part of her extremely emotional journey of finding out just how much her parents must have loved her if they were willing to let her hate them as long as that kept her safe and out of HYDRA's eyes. But then she remembered what she planned to do, a secret only Rhodey knew about her, and she declined. This one last song ... She doesn't want anyone who knows her to hear it. This will be her bearing her heart to an extent she had only allowed Jarvis and JARVIS to see before. Not even FRIDAY or DUM-E, U or Butterfingers knew her like this. And the only other person who did was one she intended to have a serious talk with after she finally pours her heart and soul out to the graves in hopes of all of her feelings reaching those intended to hear it.</p><p>So she stood there, ignoring the rain and the other people who stopped to stare, though their own grief kind of blinded them to the identity of the young violinist. She saw more than a few elderly women whipping their eyes with sad smiles directed at the graves of their husbands or unfortunate children. Young men mourned siblings, cousins or lost lovers. A few rows to her left and in the front, a grieving widow with a four year old girl had hung around there for hours, the two listening as they sat by the young soldier's fresh grave, eyes red from tears. When Toni had taken a pause to inhale a shuddering breath, she was surprised when the little girl collided with her, hiding her little face in her abdomen, shaking with tears, as though she understood Toni's pain and the depth of her music. Toni softly carded a hand through her hair before picking up the tune again, letting the girl cry against her seeping at her strength even as her mother started sobbing. Toni let them. She understood what it felt like. As they left, they whispered a 'Thank you Ms Iron Maiden' and a 'My condolence, Ms Stark' and genuine good wishes for her. Toni watched them leave, her hands never faltering.</p><p>At one point, a teen with a dog sat somewhere behind her, the old dog going back over to lie at its master's grave. Toni didn't ask if the kid was the grandson of a man who appears to have lived through the end of WWI and through WWII and everything else in between. She knows family isn't only in blood. The boy stayed for three hours, just staring into the distance and letting the music wash over him, right until what seems to be his older sister came over, distraught, hugging him and sobbing into his hair her worry and stress. The boy left a lily for Toni and a chocolate bar. Toni wondered if he had recognized her. Kids always did.</p><p>At one point, the rain got heavy and Toni found she was the only one left at the graveyard. That was fine. She hadn't come for an audience. It was approaching sunset by now and she was still playing. The genius just kept staring at the three names, at that accursed date, remembering all the moments she had shared with her family. It was funny how perception and hindsight worked. Now, looking back with the knowledge of who her parents had been and what types of lives they'd lived before they got her, their bundle of pride and joy and infinite love and worry, some things made so much more sense. Extremis helped her remember her youngest memories, ones buried so deep in her earliest days of life no hypnosis could pull them out. She remembered feeling loved and cherished, protected.</p><p>She also remembered cruel hands stealing her from her crib, the bloody gash on Jarvis' forehead as he was left lying on her floor as she cried while being carried away. She remembered the cold and the loud noises. She remembered explosions and fury, she remembered an avenging angel descending on them with a furious devil with blazing green eyes right at her heels, setting everything on fire until she was safe in familiar, strong arms and a British voice whispered reassurances to her as they fled. She remembered salty tears running down her father's face as he finally held her close and she remembers how her mother had looked at herself for weeks as unworthy to hold her own child with the hands of a killer. She remembers the second kidnapping, and the third. She remembers the growing fear. She remembers her mother's continued pained face whenever she finished off whatever unfortunate idiot had <em>dared</em> kidnap the youngest Stark.</p><p>She remembers when one kidnapping went too far and she remembers the exact moment that the straw broke the camel's back - and her father's patience.</p><p>She remembers the moment that negligence started and yet she has clear memories after their deaths of finding every picture, every newspaper clippings, every award, every acknowledgement, every drawing and plan she had ever made in both of her parents' personal things, all carefully saved and conserved, filed with love and pride at her achievements.</p><p>She still remembers her father's message.</p><p>She still remembers her mother's last kiss on the cheek the night it had happened.</p><p>She still remembers <em>Jarvis</em>, just Jarvis. Just him being Jarvis. That had always been enough. All his care and kindness, all of his gentleness and love. Just him being who he was had made life bearable fir Toni when she thought it was all a nightmare.</p><p>So here she stood now, playing one last tribute to them before finally letting go of their ghosts, finally setting them free. They can rest now. They no longer need to worry about her.</p><p>She is Iron Maiden.</p><p>She is Toni Stark.</p><p>She doesn't know when she stopped playing, only that the only sound in the graveyard was now raindrops hitting the ground, the lush green grass, the headstones, the flowers she had brought. There was no rain on her, however. Toni still didn't need to turn or look around to know she had a companion and just whom that companion was. You can be surprised by magic only so many times.</p><p>"I didn't know you played the violin," Strange said as a conversation starter, coming to stand beside her in front of the three graves. Toni didn't turn to look at him, the two of them spending a minute just staring at the headstones in silence.</p><p>"I don't know a lot of things about you," was what Toni finally replied with, gaze still flitting over the names. She regretted she never could give Yinsen a decent final resting place, but the best she could do was erect a monument for the victims of the Ten Rings in Gulmira and leave a secret, encoded message for the man who had saved and changed her life. "You never told me."</p><p>The doctor turned sorcerer just hummed in interest. "What an interesting cemetery spot." Toni looked at him at that, ready to snap at him for even <em>daring</em> to talk about it, but Strange beat her to it, his next words leaving her flabbergasted. "The first grave to their right is where I buried the Ancient One. I figured she deserved that honor."</p><p>And so Toni, stunned, looked to the grave right next to Jarvis, finding no name but a date, the year matching the time Stephen would have become Sorcerer Supreme. The gravestone was <em>magically</em> well kept, seemingly untouched by time. It was well cared for and beautiful flowers grew all over it. It was as though it was a part of nature and not in the middle of the ever busy concrete jungle that was New York City. "Why are you telling me this?" She may have never visited the graves for fear of getting drunk later or doing something exceedingly stupid, but she had known about the mysterious grave to Jarvis' right. She's not even sure why she's surprised by the identity behind that one, now that she thinks about it. Fate and the universe at large seem to have a habit of throwing them together a lot. "Why are you here?"</p><p>"Because it's still something I haven't told you about and because I thought you might not want to be alone anymore." It occurred to her that Strange had probably kept an eye on her, had been present for a longer time than she had been aware of it. He had many ways to hide that she cannot detect. Not without resorting to using the Soul Stone and she doubted it would help, since it seemed to know Toni would probably bolt the other way, still not ready to speak with Strange. It seemed to like him well enough.</p><p>"And how many more things have you not told me about? How many things are you keeping secret from me? I never knew <em>you</em> played the piano." Stephen had shown off after they admitted to not being musicians back in 1945 and had shown him the fake instruments, only for him to summon a piano and play some classics with expert ease.</p><p>"Not much, all things considered. And why would I tell you that? It would be boring to boast about something you already knew of." He shrugged even as Toni froze and slowly turned to fully face him, calculations and 'what if's running wild in her mind.</p><p>"What?" She asked weakly, not sure if she should believe this. Stephen seemed to know what she was thinking, for he smirked and turned to look on ahead again, instead of watching her as he answered.</p><p>"Oh, <em>Antonia</em>. Did you seriously think I wouldn't remember you? That you wouldn't create a loop? The Time Stone allowed you to correct a potential past mistake for a safer potential future only because it created a loop where this goes down two rather different paths. First one thing must happen, you must go back in time and change things for me then to go down a different, new path and then I'd be aware of them both. I would know you as Toni Stark and as Antonia Carbonell and then as Toni Stark that <em>was</em> Antonia Carbonell. The Time Stone can't just <em>change</em> things, erase events or people without creating a ripple effect. Without creating holes and inconsistencies in its very fabric. So it creates these loops that allow for things to be fixed without causing irreparable damage to the singular universe or the multiverse as a whole." He finally looked back at her, a warm smile on his lips. "I kept my promise. I waited."</p><p>"You lived up to my warning. You got bored."</p><p>The man looked highly offended by that, going as far as to growl like a caged beast. "I would <em>never</em> grow bored of you! It has been the greatest relief of my long life to learn you are now as immortal as I am. I have already lost you once, I won't lose you again!" Toni actually recoiled a little at the vehemence in his words. She had not expected him to lose his cool like that, no matter how quickly he reigned it in seconds afterwards. "You mean the world to me, Toni. More than that. I'll gladly watch the multiverse burn if it would keep you safe and happy. I'd start the flames and stoke them until not even embers and ashes remain."</p><p>"Then why did you fuck with Clea?" Toni snapped, but Stephen didn't seem angry with such a response to his heartfelt and rather scary oath.</p><p>He just turned to fully face her, seriousness and hints of rage at the demon smoldering in those too green eyes. "I didn't. She turned up out of nowhere and tried to convince me to go back to our original arrangement before I met you, either time. I refused. I would still have given her enough energy to retain her corporal form, but she wanted more and she took it. I couldn't stop her once the spell was active. I blacked out. All I could think was of what you would think and do if I was gone when I had promised you eternity. I didn't want to leave you. I didn't want you to end up alone. I couldn't give two fucks for Clea. We were never really close. <em>You</em>, on the other hand ... You are someone I refuse to let go of, Toni. Someone I refuse to lose."</p><p>"And what if I one day want you to let me go? What then?" She knew it was unlikely to happen, but they were finally laying out <em>all</em> of their cards. No more secrets. This was a whole new start. They've had three of them already (their first meeting in 2008, their first meeting in 1945 and the start of their romantic relationship last year), but it would seem a fourth is necessary to finally clear everything up.</p><p>"I would like to still at least be a friend to you. An ally, if nothing else. I said I won't leave you alone, Toni, that I'll always be there for you. I stand by that." They just stared at each other for a long time, studying each other's expressions, trying to read what they find there. Their defenses are up but they had always been see-through for them. They knew each other too well, they were too much alike not to understand on a level no one else ever will be able to. "I would still hope such a day doesn't come. Still, either way, the decision will be yours and I will respect it, whatever it might be."</p><p>"I was honestly hoping you would say you wouldn't let go," Toni surprises them both by admitting but she wasn't ashamed of it. Not when Stephen actually flushed with satisfaction at hearing the admission. "When did you stop ... seeing Clea? Wong kind of numbered the important women in your life and he never mentioned her. Though, he didn't mention the Ancient One, either, which is kind of shitty of him to do. She seemed nice, if infuriatingly vague. What?" She asked when she saw his surprised expression, enchantingly intense green eyes flitting between her and the unnamed grave. "Oh. Yeah, the night I saw you ... being accosted by Clea-" And wasn't <em>that</em> one weird thing to say. Really, her life was beyond abnormal, she swears. "I kind of drank until I passed out - I'm fine, stop panicking." She interjected when a horrified expression settled on Stephen's face when he realized the amount of alcohol she'd have had to drink in order for Extremis not to be enough to burn through it fast enough to keep her sober or at least just tipsy. Blackout drunk ... Yeah, that would kill a horse. "Anyway, when I passed out, I think I ended up in the Soul Dimension."</p><p>"Excuse me?" The incredulous sorcerer asked and Toni had to repress hysterical giggles. Oh, she had almost forgotten. She still hadn't had her well deserved mental breakdown regarding that little trip, had she? And then there was that whole shit in Hell ... Oh, yes. That was definitely going to need a scheduled date arranged. "Did you just say ... "</p><p>"Yeah, but don't start freaking out on me now, Doc. Ladies first." At his disbelieving look, Toni just continued her tale casually, all the while trying to fight back a panic attack. Heavens, she needed BARF. Like, two centuries ago. Yes, it was <em>that</em> bad. "Anyway, there was this bald lady in yellow robes. You told me you were in some deep shit with a demon from the Dark Dimension, Clea, Dormammu's niece or whatever. It's why I knew what Clea wanted and which questions to ask Mephisto-"</p><p>"You spoke with <em>Mephisto</em>!? Was that bastard involved? Oh, I am going to make <em>his</em> life <em>Hell</em>! Did he hurt you? If he so much as <em>touched</em> you-"</p><p>"Ah ah ah," Toni interrupted as though scolding a misbehaving toddler and the Sorcerer Supreme stopped his murderous rant in its tracks. "I'm talking, you're listening." When he huffed and crossed his arms but nodded, Toni continued. "Like I was saying, she informed me of what was going on, so I knew what to tell Wong and then Master Hamir so we can take the best course of action. In turn, that meant I knew which questions to get out of Mephisto and I knew what we had to do to save your scrawny ass-"</p><p>"I have a fine ass, thank you very much. Not as fine as yours, I'll admit, but your ass deserves an invitation into godhood, but that's beside the point."</p><p>Toni did her best not to blush at that matter of fact statement and she didn't contradict him on him having a nice ass, too. "<em>As I was saying</em>, I had a chat with your mentor. She seemed nice, if a bit too mystique for my liking."</p><p>"Dear Vishanti, please tell me she didn't tell you my embarrassing in training stories?" He sounded truly horrified at the prospect, which only intrigued Toni. Oh, that must be some juicy stuff. Something must have shown her interest on her face because Stephen suddenly looked resigned. "You're going to make me tell you, aren't you. Oh dear Vishanti,"he bemoaned and Toni chuckled. Suddenly, the gloom of the graveyard was lifting and the grief that had been suffocating since she stepped in front of her family's graves finally slackened the grip on her heart. "Are you okay, though? What you've been through ... Well, it can't have been easy."</p><p>"Oh, it varied from downright nightmare bad to just my normal days bad. Having the kids around helped. Having <em>you</em> around helped. It was ... Horrifying, enlightening and a downright pleasure to see my parents one last time. To get to hear it in person, from their lips, just how much they loved me, even if my last memories of them was a household and a family falling apart. Wish I could have seen a young Jarvis, though. I miss him. I miss them all."</p><p>Stephen put an arm around her, drawing her to his side even as magic worked on drying her clothes and warming her up. "They were proud of you from beginning to end. And, in the end, they loved you enough to direct HYDRA's attention to them instead of you." At the confused noise she made, Stephen elaborated. "They were transporting the supersoldier serum when they were because you were already taking the world by storm. They were all learning of the extent of your intelligence. Maria told me SHIELD had a file on you opened since your first circuit board. HYDRA probably had access to it. They were horrified at the idea of HYDRA going after you. Howard asked me to look out for you just the day before the hit. I didn't know what he was rambling on about at the time but I never believed the report regarding their deaths. I didn't know what was going on back then but I knew something was fishy. I wish I could have spared you finding out the way you have. I wish I could have stopped it altogether."</p><p>"Some things have to happen," Toni paraphrased what the sorcerer Tony had told them. "We don't like it but trying to change that could have horrible side effects. I think my parents' death was one of those things. Had they continued being around to protect me, I may have never become Iron Maiden."</p><p>"Perhaps," the man conceded and didn't say another word, just holding her close. Toni enjoyed the familiarity in his touch as opposed to the past Strange's attempts to figuring out just what the hell boundary he had to work with. They just stood there, protected from the rain by a spell as Toni finally let herself to say goodbye to her family, to the past and finally completely move on to the future. She had found closure, she realized, and it was only because of Stephen. Had it not been for him and the magical world he introduced her to, she would have never met the <em>real</em> side of her parents, the side that was kept secret for all of their safety, especially hers.</p><p>Unbelievably, she had found peace. She can't rest quite yet, but she no longer felt haunted by her past mistakes. Perhaps it is temporary, perhaps it is permanent. Either way, she was going to enjoy the moment and just cling on to Stephen as she let tears slide down her face. Stephen, bless him, dispersed whatever shielded them from the rain and let it mask her tears, her vulnerability, even as he drew her completely against him, holding her close and seemingly shielding her from the world.</p><p>Here, in his arms, Toni Stark felt safe and loved.</p><p>She couldn't ask for more.</p><p>(Unaware, the two were being watched by four transparent figures outlined in a familiar orange light. They watched with gentle, sad and loving smiles as their beloved successors and children, be it in blood or otherwise, finally found content.)</p><p>Overhead, the sun started breaking through the clouds and a rainbow of striking colors lit up the lonely graveyard.</p><p>They have braved the storm.</p></div></div></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, this might as well be the last chapter, because chapter 24 is pure indulgence on my part. Anyway, I hope you liked it and thank you for your support throughout this story and this series!</p><p>Please leave a comment! They always make my day :)</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
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            <p>The last chapter!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mother's Daughter by Miley Cyrus</p><p>(To be honest, before I heard this song, I would have left Howard and Maria as horrible people and parents in this story instead of it turning out the way it did, so I don't know if readers will be thankful for it or disappointed because there could have been a different path to take to the ending of this story.)</p><p>I hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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<p></p><div><p>If she was being honest, Toni had to admit it had been a long while since she enjoyed the wild cheers of an awed crowd as she appeared on the stage. She hadn't held an event like this since the Palladium poisoning incident, the Stark Expo all those years ago. She had had meetings and assemblies, she had held speeches and hosted parties and galas, though more on the formal part, meant for charity. She had opened various new divisions in SI and yes, there was that big party she and T'Challa threw after all things concerning Thanos were finally dealt with.</p><p>But it had been nine years, nine <em>very long</em> years since Toni Stark landed on the center of the stage in her Iron Maiden armor, called it back to her like the badass she was and appear before the crowd in clothing that often had the Internet forums speculating if she, too, was Asgardian or from some other pantheon. It has been nine years since she flashed the Toni Stark smirk at the crowd, that she bowed and blew kisses and cheered with them, hyping up the atmosphere until it was bursting through the roof. It has been nearly a full decade since a stadium of adoring fans has filled all the seats and since every frequency in the world tuned in on their favorite genius, billionaire, philanthropist, hero, watching and listening all over the globe as Toni put on a spectacle. The Avengers had always frowned upon her extravagant tendencies, called her a drama queen and an attention seeker - or rather something far ruder, but Toni was in too good of a mood to be concerned with their limited opinions. After Ultron, the mood wasn't right. And then the Accords happened ... And then Thanos ...</p><p>The last year also wasn't the right type of mood, but this time for personal reasons surrounding Toni herself. It took her a while to realize that. The former rouges kept trying to pull her back into the old ways and Toni had been struggling with them all year long. Not to mention that she was now practically a mother of two boys and a pseudo older sister for a Wakandan Princess. It hadn't felt right to make a spectacle like this, to expose herself to the world like this after years of keeping to herself. But being on stage when they traveled back to 1945 had been a reminder of who she was. Public persona or not, Toni Stark was born for the spot light and she would never deny her place was in it. She had ran away to show herself as responsible and accountable, but it had slightly distanced her from the people. Now, she was back and there seemed to be countless comments and homecomings for her. The Internet was overridden with them. The world was celebrating her return to the stage and they were eager for whatever show she was putting on for them now, at her second Stark Expo. Half a year of work and SI had managed it perfectly. It helped to have all those former SHIELD agents as well as a powerful wizard boyfriend for meeting the deadlines. They will all probably have a few more gray hairs by the time this one is over but the second Stark Expo was off to a promising start.</p><p>And then the beat started, Toni threw off her leather jacket to reveal an open, shoulderless, skin-tight red shirt to match her black dress and jacket, heels as gold as the Gauntlet on her hand, Arc Reactor shinning for the world to see and the crowds screamed. It only got louder when she brought the mick to her mouth.</p><p>
        <em>Hallelujah, I'm a freak<br/>
I'm a freak, hallelujah<br/>
Every day of the week I'ma do ya<br/>
Like I want to<br/>
I'm a Nile Crocodile, a Piranha</em>
      </p><p>It had been Stephen's idea, really, for Toni to show off her music gifts and the teens had agreed. They said she had the voice of an angel, which James joked was ironic considering to whom the songs had been dedicated to. Toni had hesitated, ran the idea over with Pepper and Rhodey, only to be outvoted by them all. So it had been agreed that Toni start the second Stark Expo by revealing to the world that she could sing and she could sign damn <em>fine</em>. The choice of song was left to her and Toni had spent several nights thinking it over, searching for the right song. She wanted to make a bang with her return to the public stage as the unpredictable Toni Stark they had always hated to love and loved to occasionally hate.</p><p>The masses had flocked to the new grounds built for the event and had been chanting her name even as they waited in rows outside and as they were let in to go to their seats. It was the turn up of the century, easily beating the record her first Stark Expo had garnered. The people had heard Toni Stark will be making a spectacle and they had came as fast as they were able. A Toni Stark spectacle was one no one wanted to miss. The main stadium, her 'arena' for the duration of the event, was packed and surrounded from all sides as giant monitors were set up on the outside so even those who couldn't fit into the building could see the proceedings inside. Even those further from the building won't be excluded as trucks carried giant monitors so everyone would see. Not to mention that all events, all day long, will be streamed live for the duration of the Expo. This may be a spectacle, her return to the leading spot light, but it was also about science and about legacy, having Toni Stark post Afghanistan written all over it. And the anticipation of getting a glimpse at her new candy land was also through the roofs. Toni Stark was back and the world was loving it.</p><p>But they had obviously not expected <em>this</em>. It was a relatively new song from a provocative artist and not entirely appropriate for around children. But Toni Stark was nothing if not adaptive. She may be dressed to kill but this song was anything but provocative or seductive. Oh no. This ... This was about her mother. People so often forgot Toni had two parents, like everyone else. Howard didn't make her in a <em>lab</em>, for fuck's sake. And the Expo was already celebrating Howard for seeking to propel forward all fields of science. So this ... This was for Maria Collins Carbonell Stark, the mother of Antonia Edith Stark.</p><p>And this was for the Avengers ... For her enemies, for anyone who dared cross her or endanger her world ... A <em>warning</em>.</p><p>
        <em>Oh my God, she got the power</em>
      </p><p>Toni didn't hesitate, she just let Extremis bleed through her, rushing through her veins as her eyes glowed blue like the Arc Reactor. The crowd gasped even as now only one of the giant monitors behind her showed a close up of her, the other two showing on the left Iron Maiden and on the right her in a business suit, weapons at her feet and the world held reverently in her hands, high above ... Privatized world peace ... The rest of the monitors around the huge arena, though, showed everything her mother had ever done for them through her charity organizations and then all that Toni had done through the Maria Stark Foundation.</p><p>
        <em>Oh, look at her, she got the power</em>
      </p><p>And then Toni summoned all of those images into her hand, projected from a quickly formed gauntlet on her hand, the pixels creating Earth, glowing brightly like the star it wasn't in her palm and lighting up her face. The nanites of her suit now danced around her like lazy asteroids, nanoseconds away from forming the armor around her should she call it to her. It was a reminder of just how little she needed to get things done. She wasn't going to act like a kitten or some harmless, helpless little herbivore. Oh no. Toni Stark was a <em>predator</em>. The world has forgotten that. <em>She</em> has forgotten that.</p><p>This was a wake up call for them all.</p><p>
        <em>So-so, so don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
I came back to get me some</em>
      </p><p>The crowd cheered all over again, getting into it now, especially as videos of UN summits when the Council tried to 'put her in her place' for 'her involvement in the recent tragedies' during the whole Sokovia Accords debacle and then the Civil War, her dealing with General Ross and then the far more reasonable Agent Ross. It got particularly loud when the press conferences with Senator Stern and 'I am Iron Maiden' got placed side by side on the main monitors. Toni didn't even try to hold back her smirk. She had always been the favorite Avenger. People might say Thor was the prettiest and Hulk the coolest or Captain America the most righteous (not anymore) but one thing had always been certain. The people of Earth never doubted Toni Stark would defend them. They trusted her. They were familiar with her.</p><p>They loved her. She was their best defender. She was Iron Maiden.</p><p>She can't wait for a certain footage to come to the screens.</p><p>
        <em>I'm nasty, I'm evil</em>
      </p><p>She didn't shy away from showing her playgirl days, her weapons developer phase. It had shaped her. It had shaped the world. Stephen, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and the kids hadn't wanted her to sing this song mostly because of that but Toni knew it was needed. She wasn't perfect and she had no plans of deceiving the people into thinking she was. The world had already been blinded by perfection propaganda bullshit once already and when the veil was taken off from their eyes, it had been ugly. She wasn't Rogers, relying on an old reputation and righteousness from times of war to carry her through the world. Oh <em>hell</em> no. Toni was paving the new roads to the future this very night. She had promised accountability and transparency after Afghanistan. She will never go back on that promise. It was why she had stood behind the Accords, why she had amended them so many times until they were fair for all individuals with powers, regardless of their age or affiliation to a group or no one at all.</p><p>
        <em>Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter</em>
      </p><p>She grinned at that one, pulling up one of the pictures she'd taken herself of her mother in a pristine white business suit. She had already started graying back then, but it wasn't as bad as the last time she had seen her. And the picture next to her was that of Toni from her return from Afghanistan and having revealed to the world she was Iron Maiden. It showed her opening enticingly her button up shirt to show off the glowing Arc Reactor. It was the only time she had let it be photographed, having already developed an aversion to anyone even <em>looking</em> at the device that protected her heart. But she had been making an announcement to the world that she was starting to invest in clean energy and that the Arc Reactor was her solution. She had to show the only functional example. She had been nauseous as she posed, not that it could be seen on her face and the almost seductive expression she wore.</p><p>She would have probably been freaking out if her new pet butterflies hadn't been flying around. They were in the picture. The photographers were charmed and insisted on choosing one with them. Toni didn't mind. She had relaxed a little with them fluttering about, which had allowed her to amp up the sexiness and the charm. She knew every man, scientist or not, won't be able to focus on the light in her chest as opposed to <em>her chest</em> and the come hither look in her eyes. Except a certain doctor but he was a gentleman through and through. He sawed his hungry eyes for the bedroom, where it usually left goosebumps all over Toni's skin.</p><p>Either way, it had been a diversion and a damn good one, especially as it still worked now. Of course it would work. Toni was gifted, having taken after her mother. It had been years since she had put out any provocative pictures for the magazines like she liked to tease the world, once upon a time. With Extremis running hot in her blood, she looked as young, if not younger, as in the photo. There was no way men's minds won't go to the gutter.</p><p><em>'Stephen better not cause a scene.'</em> <em>That</em> would be a disaster to rival the first Stark Expo she had held and that one was practically blown sky high.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
I came back to get me some<br/>
I'm nasty, I'm evil<br/>
Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter</em>
      </p><p>This time, the pictures changed to something the world had never seen before. The woman known as Agent Collins but was very obviously Howard Stark's one and only wife now stood in front of them in a strange suit reminiscent of the outfits the Black Widow wears out in the field. Toni didn't hide the information in the files she'd found in the SSR archives. She showed the world what her mother had been capable of and what she had been willing to do for the man she loved and the country he protected, for the world they lived in.</p><p>Toni had thought about this. She knew her mother's image in the world, the view they had of her father. They thought her parents to be perfect and then came Toni the screw up. Now, the darker side of her parents' history was revealed and yet it still showed them as patriots. Toni refused to bring Strange up in these. Stephen was still dealing out punishment to Mephisto, whom, unlike with Clea, he couldn't just imprison within a young star, to be trapped inside the red giant until its light is extinguished. But given that was a handmade star by Stephen himself, it was unlikely she will ever get out.</p><p>Either way, this was Stark business. This was Toni setting the world straight. This was her showing them Starks have been protecting them since the beginning, this was her showing them who the <em>real</em> heroes were as pictures of her parents standing with soldiers and Agent Carter came on the screen.</p><p>
        <em>So, back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p>This was her telling Rogers 'Go fuck yourself' and showing him he had made a mistake every time he put Howard on a pedestal.</p><p>
        <em>Back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p>What's more, this was going to show him just <em>who</em> had punched him back in 1945. Stephen remembered her, her parents remembered her, Barnes remembered her and he didn't remember much of his old life. Hell, the now late owner of Mish Mash and Dash - whom Stephen had apparently supported after Toni and the kids went back, in honor of meeting her there in the first place - old Monsieur D'Pol remembered the woman that had caused military special forces to storm his hotel. Rogers didn't and Toni was going to remind him.</p><p>
        <em>Hallelujah, I'm a witch<br/>
I'm a witch, hallelujah<br/>
Swish swish, I'm a three-point shooter<br/>
I blow through ya<br/>
Like a hot wind out in the bayou, ya</em>
      </p><p>She showed the classified image of Gulmira and watched with the crowd as she took care of the group. She wasn't even trying to make any bold and eye catching dance moves or the such. She let everyone see the full scale of the fight during the Expo. She let them see Sokovia and New York from her point of view, from the hundreds of shaky videos and pictures taken by the braver - or stupidly more suicidal - citizens while they ran for their lives. Every video only got the crowd more pumped up. This Expo promised to be one for the history books. Toni will have to work extra hard to surpass it next year. Maybe a certain Sorcerer Supreme can help her open it, though she hoped he doesn't take that as an invitation to propose to her in front of the whole world to see. She wasn't confident in her ability not to facepalm at such dramatics. Or to hide a blush. Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange was exceptionally talented in regards to making Dr Antonia 'Toni' Edith Stark blush and flustered.</p><p>
        <em>Oh my God, she got the power</em>
      </p><p>This time, Toni hesitated, looking at her group of supporters for reassurance. This would be the first time since Thanos that the Infinity Stones were brought up. No one outside of the Avengers actually <em>knew</em> what they looked like, where they were or how they worked. Toni hadn't wanted to come out and tell them three of them were still on Earth or that one was practically glued to her hand. Or that she was their Chosen Contender, especially not while she herself was still trying to come to terms with what that entailed and figure out how she was supposed to deal with it all. And she especially didn't want to reveal her immortality issue, so to speak. People would think she was abusing the power she had been given so she had taken Fury's advice and for once delayed the completely transparent press conferences she tends to hold ever since Afghanistan and Stane.</p><p>This was a huge step, one she hadn't wanted to take on her own. He friends knew that, though it was probably because Stephen told them she was going to do it on her own just to not burden them. Rhodey still didn't like him but he and Pepper got along like a house on fire. Happy had been a bit suspicious of him but he could see just how obvious Stephen was in his adoration for Toni. Which was actually why Toni hadn't even mentioned the Clea incident to them. Happy and Rhodey would probably get themselves banished to the Dark Dimension for jumping that gun in threatening or assaulting Strange for his 'cheating'. Though, given the shovel talks Toni was present for from her AIs, she doubted Stephen would be scared of anyone else ever again.</p><p>Either way, she had her 'support group' right backstage and she looked at them now. They don't know what brought this on but they decided to support her regardless. There was Pepper, Rhodey and Happy, who have for the longest time been her only friends. They were joined by her pseudo sons, Harley and Peter, and the two Wakandan siblings who had accepted her into their midst before Toni had realized it, though Shuri had always been more obvious about it than T'Challa. Vision, who had some of JARVIS insight, understood to a degree and had been the first to offer her his support, even before the others came to realize she might need it. Carol was off world but she had sent her message of support. Hope was there, dressed to the nines to present some of Pym Technologies own new products. Fury sent his regards but didn't turn up, which was still more than she had expected of him. Ross was still too terrified of what counted as her normal everyday life to spend any more time with her than absolutely necessary when in UN and Accords meetings. The former rogues were invited by Toni personally, because this was partially meant for them. She was sending a message. At least Barnes was with them to keep the morons out of trouble.</p><p>And then there was, of course, Stephen and with him Wong and even Master Hamir and Dr Christine Palmer. She was actually pretty sure a good number of sorcerers was also somewhere in the immense crowds. She was kind of their favorite celebrity, after all. She met her boyfriend's eyes and he gave her an encouraging smile. So Toni closed her eyes, brought her left hand up in the air, showing off the golden Gauntlet and the shinning Soul Stone resting snugly in it.</p><p>
        <em>Well, look at her, she got the power</em>
      </p><p>She took a deep breath and released a wave of energy through the stone, its power going through the entire stadium, passing through each person and leaving them with the briefest of moments of having seen their loved ones that had passed on. Not everyone understood what was going on but they didn't feel alarmed. Toni knew they wouldn't. The Soul Stone felt like it could never cause you harm.</p><p>The Avengers, though, knew and understood what she just did. Well, Romanov and maybe Barton understood. Everyone else was likely still not politically adept enough to recognize a power play when it's being made and this was one huge ass power play. Anyone with even just two brain cells rubbing together would realize that. Toni briefly wondered if she was being too optimistic regarding them.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
I came back to get me some<br/>
I'm nasty, I'm evil<br/>
Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter<br/>
Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
I came back to get me some<br/>
I'm nasty, I'm evil<br/>
Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter</em>
      </p><p>She now actually showed her own videos of her mother being a badass and Toni took great delight in comparing them to video footage of herself as she battled Killian's men and even stopped Barnes' punch out of the suit and the gunshot she nearly got in the head. Though maybe that hadn't been the best idea, given Stephen was glaring daggers at him now. The good doctor hadn't exactly known about that little tidbit of information.</p><p>
        <em>So, back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p>And then, for the first time since it all happened, Toni didn't turn her head away when the footage of Siberia was shown. Knowing the pain her mother was by then probably constantly in and that her father wasn't the young man she had danced with anymore explained why this most dangerous pair on HYDRA's old list went down so easily. It had even occurred to her that they hadn't even attempted to fight. They hadn't wanted HYDRA going after Toni, that much the genius knew now. They didn't fight as to not garner any retaliation to the daughter they were leaving behind to fend for herself without their protection.</p><p>It made watching the video all the more painful but the following confrontation only made Extremis sing with thirst for blood and vengeance as the two supersoldiers laid in on her until she lost her shit when they targeted the Arc Reactor.</p><p>
        <em>Back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p>Toni walks over to the edge of the stage where her original teammates sans Thor and Bruce were, eyes sharp and glowing as she approached. The group was already getting the stink eye from their closest neighbors and Toni could just imagine the swearing being thrown at them for their stupidity in following Captain America so blindly. The genius billionaire didn't stop until she was at the very edge of the stage and she leaned down, a dangerous glint in her eyes.</p><p>
        <em>Back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p>She watched in satisfaction as Wilson actually flinched back and Barton reluctantly shuffled a few steps back, realizing he was probably in the wrong and not wanting to antagonize Strange, who was watching like a hawk, for a second time. Romanov looked <em>horrified</em> and that was perhaps the first truly genuine reaction Toni saw from her. Wanda was fuming but not nearly brave enough to try and attack her or lash out on anyone else. Even she had learned where Toni was, a certain devil isn't far behind. It didn't stop her from muttering curses at Toni, though it was drowned out by the crowd's cheering. James only gave the pilot of Iron Maiden and apologetic smile.</p><p>Rogers, predictably, stood his ground, which Toni had nothing against. It made his flinch all the more delicious when nanite glasses sprang to her face and he finally <em>knew</em>.</p><p>
        <em>Back up, back up, back up, back up, boy, ooh</em>
      </p><p><em>'Took him long enough to figure it out,'</em> she thought even as she turned her back to the rouges and walked back to the center of the stage. It was time for the main event. The main message.</p><p>
        <em>My mama always told me that I'd make it<br/>
That I'd make it, so I made it<br/>
I put my back into and my heart in it<br/>
So I did it, yeah, I did it</em>
      </p><p>Afghanistan, Stane, Vanko, the Stark Expo, Loki, Thor, the Helicarrier, New York, the wormhole and beyond, the Mandarin and the Ten Rings, Extremis, HYDRA, SHIELDRA and the data dump, Ultron, Sokovia and the Maximoff twins, the Accords, Germany, Siberia ... She showed them <em>all</em> of it. <em>Every single time</em> the world has beat her down and tried to keep her on the ground but she rose from her own ashes of despair like a fucking phoenix personified. She showed them each and every time she saved herself with only the helping hand of others, usually those rare few she could really trust.</p><p>
        <em>My mamma always told me that I'd make it<br/>
That I'd make it, so I made it<br/>
I put my back into and my heart in it<br/>
So I did it, yeah, I did it</em>
      </p><p>And then it was all Thanos, how easily he defeated them, what their fate would have been had Toni not been best friends with a certain Sorcerer Supreme. The footage was taken from the Iron Slider and War Machine suits and this was actually only the second time she was seeing it. She could see the fear in the Titan's eyes as she, previously so close to being beaten, got up and came to stand at Strange's side. They made for an intimidating sight alright. It was easy to see the familiarity and camaraderie between them just by how they accommodated their own body language to the other's presence. Toni had never noticed it before but she could see it now.</p><p>She watched, along with the rest of the world, as she lunged forward, grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet and leave the confrontation with two new accessories on her hands, six all powerful Stones glinting in smug content at being where they liked it better. And as she looked at the crowds before her, she can just imagine all the politicians who were now sweating in their suits and chairs as they no doubt thought back to all the times they had been less than polite to her.</p><p>And she could just imagine whatever cells were still left of HYDRA just outright biting on their little death pills, figuring a foaming at the mouth death was better than whatever the daughter of the two most terrifying people from their old list and the girlfriend of one of the most dangerous people from their <em>new</em> list while sharing that top with said boyfriend might do to them now that HYDRA's involvement in the accident of the Stark's was public knowledge. It hadn't even occurred to her until this moment how <em>terrifying</em> this will be to her enemies.</p><p>No wonder Stephen was so adamant that she go through with it.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
I came back to get me some<br/>
I'm nasty, I'm evil<br/>
Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter</em>
      </p><p>Toni just left the last family picture she had taken with her parents and butler on the big screen, right next to the picture of her new team and family, as she wrapped it up.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
Oh my God, oh my God</em>
      </p><p>She looked at each individual camera with sharp eyes over her glasses before calling them back in the suit as she finally busted a few moves.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
Oh my God, oh my God</em>
      </p><p>JARVIS and FRIDAY took great delight in making a light show to further accent their creator's dramatic flair, much to her delight. And the delight of the crowd, too, judging from the screams of excitement.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
Oh my God, oh my God</em>
      </p><p>And then her new team and her beloved boyfriend came to stand beside her as she once again came to the edge of the stage right in front of the former rouges. They were making themselves look a bit more menacing than was necessary and Strange was being a drama queen with the Cloak's help but even an idiot wouldn't get the message of murder in his eyes. James actually stepped away from the others, giving Steve a 'What can you do? I'm not suicidal' look and taking a few steps away still, just to be sure he wasn't in Stephen's direct line of fire.</p><p>
        <em>Don't fuck with my freedom<br/>
Oh my God, oh my God</em>
      </p><p>And Stark just found Rogers' gaze and held it, making sure to impart this last message. <em>This is what I do to my enemies</em>. <em>This is what I do for my friends. You could have been one</em>. And most importantly <em>This is who I am. Flaws and all. Accept it or leave it. I'm done with your bullshit</em>. One thing was for sure, judging by the way he swallowed a lump in his throat. Rogers and most likely anyone else will think twice before engaging with her in any sort of confrontation.</p><p>Toni Stark was back, Merchant of Death, Iron Maiden and all and she was more badass than ever before. She had more support than ever before. She took hold of Stephen's hand as she finished the song and let the mick drop.</p><p>She had sent her message.</p><p>
        <em>Swish swish, motherfucker</em>
      </p><p>
        <strong>THE END</strong>
      </p></div></div></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To all the badass women in the world!</p><p>Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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